Leandro Aragoncillo

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Leandro Aragoncillo (born 1959) is a naturalized Filipino-American and a retired Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. He worked as a security specialist at the White House for 31 months from 1999 to 2001, first under Vice President Al Gore and then under Vice President Dick Cheney.

Aragoncillo was hired to work at the Army's Ft. Monmouth base in New Jersey in July 2004 and began sending classified information and documents in January 2005, according to an FBI complaint. The documents' contents have not been made public.

On October 5, 2005, Aragoncillo was indicted and arrested for espionage in New Jersey. Federal agents accuse him of stealing classified information, including information about the current President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and passing it to opposition leaders in that country. The FBI referred to his arrest as representing the first known case of espionage from within the White House. Michael Ray Aquino, a former deputy director of the Philippines National Police who lived in New York City, was arrested as well. Aragoncillo has been accused of passing some of the documents to Aquino.

According to reports gathered from Filipino intelligence professionals, indications were also pointing to Aragoncillo's supposed link with the French intelligence service, Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure. Frequent visits of Aragoncillo to Manila were also interspersed with clandestine meetings with identified French operatives and several "illegals" (i.e. unregistered agents) around 2002 to 2004.

Aquino, plead guilty to unlawfully possessing secret US government documents, faces a jail sentence of between 70 and 87 months plus a $250,000 fine. Aquino will be sentenced in March 2007. Aragoncillo could face a maximum term of life in prison.

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