U.S. Drops Plans For More Charges In Taiwan Spy Case

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have dropped plans to bring new charges against a former top State Department official at the center of an investigation into alleged Taiwanese espionage.

A veteran Asia expert, Donald Keyser, pleaded guilty a year ago to mishandling classified documents and lying about his intimate relationship with a Taiwanese intelligence agent, Isabelle Cheng. Earlier this year, prosecutors accused him of being uncooperative in debriefings and asked to be released from the plea deal so that they could seek additional charges against him.

The unusual request by the government to withdraw from the plea agreement set off several rounds of protracted legal wrangling. However, prosecutors said in a court filing yesterday that they had conducted an additional debriefing of Keyser on Tuesday and no longer wanted permission to bring new charges. They did not elaborate on what new information Keyser provided, if any. A spokeswoman for the prosecution, Kim Williams, declined to comment.

"We're glad this case is moving forward," Keyser's attorney, Robert Litt, told The New York Sun.

Prosecutors want Keyser to serve more than a year in prison. The defense is requesting probation. Sentencing is set for January 22.