US consulate guard admits selling secrets to China

Washington A former security guard at a US consulate in China has pleaded guilty to trying to pass secrets to China, including…

WashingtonA former security guard at a US consulate in China has pleaded guilty to trying to pass secrets to China, including photographs of a new consulate building site, according to prosecutors.

Bryan Underwood (32) planned to sell information about the US consulate being built in Guangzhou to China’s ministry of state security for $3 million to $5 million, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.

Underwood, a former contract civilian guard, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Washington yesterday to one count of attempting to communicate national defence information to a foreign government.

Underwood was arrested in Los Angeles in September 2011 after initial charges that he lied about why he was taking photos of the consulate. – (Reuters)