Six years for Aquino, co-conspirator in espionage plot

The Associated Press - July 18, 2007

Light sentence for co-conspirator of Aragoncillo

A former Philippine National Police officer was sentenced in Federal District Court yesterday to six years and four months in prison for his role in a plot in which he obtained secret United States documents in an attempt to undermine the Philippine government. The former officer, Michael Ray Aquino, 41, pleaded guilty in July 2006, admitting he possessed the secret documents.

Also pleading guilty in the case was Leandro Aragoncillo, 48, a former marine who worked as a military aide to vice presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney before becoming an F.B.I. intelligence analyst. Mr. Aragoncillo is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow and faces 10 to 15 years in prison. He admitted to passing information to Mr. Aquino and opposition politicians in the Philippines.