Michael Ray trial still up in the air

WASHINGTON — Prosecution and defense attorneys in the Michael Ray Aquino case were to meet yesterday to set a trial date for the former Philippine National Police official arrested Sept. 10 on espionage charges and held in federal custody without bail since then.

The meeting, in the New Jersey court of US District Judge William Walls, was scheduled to have been held on Tuesday, but lead prosecutor Assistant US Attorney Karl Buch asked for a 24-hour postponement to fine-tune his legal arguments.

He told The STAR he would ask for a 90-day continuance from Wednesday to give the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Department more time to review classified documents in connection with the case.

Defense attorney Mark Berman is pressing for a speedy trial.

Aquino is accused of conspiring with a former FBI intelligence analyst, Leandro Aragoncillo, in the passing of classified information to political opposition leaders in the Philippines.

Aquino was indicted on Oct. 6 with one count of conspiracy which carries a jail sentence of up to five years, and one count of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Aragoncillo, a US citizen, faces a third count for downloading classified US government information and transferring it to his private computer. This offense carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Aquino is a protégé of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, an opposition leader closely allied with deposed President Joseph Estrada, the opposition’s de facto leader.

Since June, the opposition has been waging a campaign to force President Arroyo from office over allegations that she cheated her way to victory in the 2004 elections.

The opposition stepped up its efforts after Mrs. Arroyo survived an impeachment bid in September.

Meanwhile, Aragoncillo’s lawyers and prosecutors are trying to wrap up a plea deal that would secure a guilty plea and his cooperation. Prosecutors have said Aragoncillo has "essentially admitted" to taking classified documents.

The 47-year-old was born in the Philippines and became a naturalized US citizen in 1991. He served 21 years in the Marines, ultimately as a gunnery sergeant.

He worked at the White House on the security detail for Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney between 1999 and 2002 before joining the FBI as a civilian intelligence analyst at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

He is not charged with espionage, which carries a maximum penalty of capital punishment, as plea discussions continue. Instead, he’s charged in court papers with conspiring to reveal government secrets, acting as a foreign agent and improperly using FBI computers. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Safeguards the FBI put in place after it was rocked by the Robert Hanssen spy scandal in 2001 failed to raise red flags about Aragoncillo’s activities, according to interviews and court papers reviewed by The Associated Press.

By the government’s own account, Aragoncillo was spying in plain sight. He rummaged through FBI computers for intelligence reports unrelated to his work and then e-mailed the classified documents to opposition leaders in the Philippines.

He had traveled more than a dozen times to Manila on personal business since 2000. And records show he carried debt of at least a half-million dollars — on Marine retirement pay and an entry — level FBI salary. — With AP