The intelligence gathered by the 39-year-old over about four years included a military aircraft program, U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan, and a report on a then-serving U.S. Cabinet member. He was arrested in November 2019, shortly after he returned to the United States tasked with gathering more classified information on behalf of Beijing.
Yeo’s prison sentence was two months shorter than what federal prosecutors had recommended.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the decision took into account coronavirus concerns, as well as his cooperation with U.S. authorities during the investigation. As he has already served 11 months in prison, he will be released in three months and then deported to Singapore.
Yeo expressed eagerness to be reunited with his family in Singapore and said he took full responsibility for what he had done, but said he still remains “sympathetic to the Chinese cause.”
“Politically, I do have sympathy. I admit that freely,” he said. “It was not my intention to harm anyone.”
Chinese intelligence agents approached Yeo not long after he gave a presentation in Beijing over the political situation in Southeast Asia, a court document shows. He had set up a consulting company and posted fake job listings under Chinese operatives’ instructions. The Chinese handlers also directed him to identify the vulnerabilities of recruits, such as financial hardships and work dissatisfaction.
“The FBI’s warning is not new, but the message warrants repeating: the Chinese communist government is working to gain information and access by all means,” said James Dawson, acting assistant director of the FBI’s Washington office.
