White House Spy Handler: Guilty Plea Expected

Michael Ray Aquino, the former Philippine Police Chief who allegedly collected intelligence from a former U.S. Marine as part of a coup plot, is expected to plead guilty today to charges stemming from the espionage case, law enforcement sources say.

Leandro Aragoncillo is the former Marine whose spying inside the White House and while at the FBI were first reported by ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross.

Aragoncillo has already entered a guilty plea to passing along top secret information.  He is reported to be somewhat cooperative in the government’s probe to determine what classified or top secret documents were lifted from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney when Aragoncillo worked there and from an FBI office where he worked as an analyst with top security clearance.

Aquino and Aragoncillo were allegedly working with current and former officials of the Philippine government to gather materials that they thought might assist in ousting the current regime there.

Aragoncillo expected he would be rewarded with a high government position in exchange for his spying, according to court records.