Ronald Montaperto

Ronald N. Montaperto is a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who admitted to leaking classified defense information to China. U.S. officials said the disclosures by Montaperto coincided with the loss of a major electronic eavesdropping program that successfully spied on Chinese government links to illicit arms sales.

Montaperto, 66, joined the DIA in 1981 and eight years later sought a post at the CIA that eventually led to suspicions he was a spy for China. He was first identified in the late 1990s by a Chinese defector as one of 10 "dear friends" who were informal agents of the Chinese government. An investigation of his links to Chinese intelligence in 1991 was dropped for lack of evidence. During questioning by investigators in Hawaii in 2003, where he was dean of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Montaperto said he verbally gave Col. Yang and Col. Yu both "secret" and "top secret" information.

Montaperto, who claimed that he was tricked, served only 3-months in jail due to letters of support from other intelligence analysts that are soft on China. One of such supporters, Lonnie Henley, was initially reprimanded by the ODNI for his support of Montaperto but was later promoted to acting national intelligence officer for East Asia, highlighting the sway of China-friendly analysts within the U.S intelligence community.