Ex-CIA analyst’s luxury-gift case is put on ice

Sue Mi Terry’s foreign-agent prosecution is deferred for a year, with restrictions on travel, South Korean contacts and gifts. Successful compliance would end the case.

The investigation behind Sue Mi Terry’s foreign-agent case has produced a conditional deal: twelve months of deferred prosecution. Under the agreement filed in Manhattan on 13 October, successful supervision would end prosecution for the listed offenses in that district.

Travel outside the continental United States needs permission. So does accepting foreign-government gifts worth more than $100. The agreement bars knowing contact with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and requires approval for planned contact with other South Korean officials.

The accompanying agreed facts describe two designer handbags and a coat valued at about $9,245, plus roughly $37,000 raised for her employer from South Korea’s embassy. The agreement supplies no guilty verdict.

Terry has maintained her innocence. Her lawyer, Lee Wolosky, says her dealings served U.S. interests and her work as a Korea specialist, Reuters reports. The conditional deal leaves the prosecution suspended while its requirements run their course.

The agreement defers prosecution conditionally. It is neither a conviction nor an immediate unconditional dismissal. The defense position is reported by Reuters; Spy Register has made no contact with the parties.