Clinton Criticizes Justice Dept. McVeigh Team Says Govt. In a surprising end to a highly troubling case, he will plead guilty to one felony. In what appeared to be a stunning surrender by federal prosecutors, Lee will be released from jail this afternoon and allowed to go home unhindered if the proposed plea agreement is accepted by U.S. District Court Judge James A. Parker in Albuquerque.
Lawyers argue about the terms and details.
He just knows he's getting out. The deal, which calls for Lee to plead guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information, was negotiated in secret sessions encouraged by Parker over the last several weeks and was approved by Atty. The FBI initially investigated the Taiwan-born Lee as a potential Chinese spy, and reports that Lee gave Beijing design details to America's most sophisticated nuclear warhead sparked more than a dozen congressional hearings last year. Under the proposed agreement, prosecutors will dismiss all but one of the 59 charges against Lee with prejudice, meaning they can't be filed again. He's going to walk out from under life sentences as a free man.