An FBI technician who admitted to spying for China begged his former law enforcement colleagues to forgive him before being sentenced to two years in the slammer.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry to the FBI,” Kun Shan “Joey” Chun whimpered as he turned — crying and red-faced — to face at least a dozen former colleagues who showed up for his Manhattan federal court sentencing. “I take full responsibility for what I have done,” Chun said through tears.
FBI personnel, who filled several rows of the 11th floor courtroom, remained silent and stone-faced as Chun blubbered.
Outside of court, they declined to comment but confirmed they were there for Chun — an electronics technician with a nearly 20-year career who blew it all by giving a Chinese government official confidential FBI information.
“Kun Shan Chun, an FBI employee, was supposed to work to protect and serve the American people,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. “But instead, he acted as a secret agent of China. For that betrayal, Chun has now been sentenced to federal prison.”
The Brooklyn, NY, resident pleaded guilty in August to one count of acting as and agent of the People’s Republic of China without providing prior notice to the Attorney General, a charge that carried a maximum term of 27 months in prison.
In exchange for lavish trips and cash for family, he turned over information about the FBI’s personnel, its organizational structure, its technological capabilities, and categories of its surveillance targets, the feds said.
Judge Victor Marrero blasted Chun on Friday for betraying the US for China, “a country which Mr. Chun knows or should have known is in a unique position to threaten the national interests of the U.S.”
The judge also ordered Chun to pay a $10,000 fine.