Question: Were Leandro Aragoncillo and Rhoda Holmes Nicholls from the same country?

Burr H. Nicholls( December 9, 1848 – May 12, 1915) was an American painter who studied art with Carolus- Duran in Paris and first exhibited his work in London at Dudley Gallery. Most of his works were based upon scenes from the seven years that he studied and lived in Europe. Nicholls was married three times, but it was his marriage to his second wife, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, that caused a media sensation across the United States. In 1897 both Burr and Rhoda Nicholls submitted paintings to the Paris Salon; Rhoda's was accepted with honorable mention but Burr's was rejected. This triggered a period of marital discontent followed by separation. Their divorce was finalized in 1906 and was reported in many American newspapers. Journalists warned women of the peril of pursuing vocations that put them in competition with their husbands. <SEP> Michael Ray Aquino is a former intelligence officer in the police force of the Philippines. He was accused of involvement in a 2000 political murder, and more recently was convicted of helping to transmit classified information from the United States to opposition leaders in the Philippines. Aquino's Philippine- related career included serving as Deputy Directory of the Intelligence Group, and as senior superintendent of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force( now defunct). He served under President Joseph Estrada, and remained politically loyal to Estrada after Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo rose to power. In 2001, he and Cesar Mancao were charged in connection with the killing of Bubby Dacer, a former public relations official for Joseph Estrada. Aquino then left the Philippines and moved to New York. In March 2005, Aquino was arrested for overstaying his visa. He contacted his friend Leandro Aragoncillo, a Philippine- born security specialist at the White House; however, Aragoncillo's efforts on Aquino's behalf eventually led to Aragoncillo's being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In the course of that investigation, evidence of espionage against the United States Government was uncovered. Aquino was then accused of helping Aragoncillo transmit classified United States documents regarding President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo to her opponents in the Philippines, including both Joseph Estrada and current opposition leader Panfilo Lacson, who had been Aquino's superior in the police force. Under an eventual plea-bargain agreement, Aquino entered a plea of guilty to illegal possession of classified documents, but avoided the more serious charge of espionage that Leandro Aragoncillo received. Aquino faced a jail sentence of between 70 and 87 months plus a$ 250,000 fine. On July 17, 2007, he was sentenced to six years and four months in prison by U.S. District Judge William H. Walls. Federal prosecutors had sought the maximum 10- year term. <SEP> She studied art in England and Italy, and her work was viewed and praised at the time by the queens of both countries. Rhoda Holmes Nicholls (March 28, 1854 – September 7, 1930) was an English-American watercolor and oil painter, born in Coventry, England. A body of work was created in South Africa by Nicholls of Port Elizabeth area's scenery, wildlife and architecture. She lived there on her brothers' 25,000-acre ostrich farm for one year. Her watercolor paintings and illustrations were published in journals, and her oil paintings won awards in the United States and Europe. Nicholls was a successful artist, writer and art instructor. She was actively involved in many art organizations as a member and leader. <SEP> Leandro Aragoncillo( born 1960) is a former FBI intelligence analyst and a retired United States Marine Corps gunnery- sergeant who was convicted of spying against the United States Government in 2007. The FBI labeled Aragoncillo the first known case of espionage within the history of the White House. For over thirty- one months, from 1999 to 2001, Aragoncillo was assigned under Vice President Al Gore and then later under Vice President Dick Cheney. Hired to work for the FBI at the Army's Ft. Monmouth base in New Jersey in July 2004, Aragoncillo began sending classified documents in January 2005, according to a federal complaint. On October 5, 2005, Aragoncillo was indicted and arrested in New Jersey for espionage. A naturalized Filipino- American, he was charged with espionage and with leaking classified information to the regime of a former Filipino president. Federal agents accused him of stealing classified information, including details about the current President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo and then passing that information onto opposition leaders in the Philippines. According to reports compiled by Filipino intelligence professionals, there were indications of a link between Aragoncillo and the French intelligence service, Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure. Frequent visits by Aragoncillo to Manila allegedly were interspersed with clandestine meetings between identified, French operatives and several" illegals"( i.e. unregistered agents) around 2002 to 2004. Statutes used against Aragoncillo: Michael Ray Aquino, a former deputy director of the Philippines National Police who lived in New York City, was arrested also and was charged. He was accused of receiving documents. He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of secret, U.S. government documents. He faced a jail sentence of between 70 and 87 months plus a fine of$ 250,000. On July 17, 2007, he was sentenced to six years and four months. Leandro Aragoncillo, on the other hand, was sentenced on July 18, 2007, in New Jersey by U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to ten years in prison. Under a proposed plea agreement, Aragoncillo had faced up to twenty years in prison.