Leesburg man charged with giving secret documents to China released on bond

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Leesburg man accused of selling top secret documents to China is being released from jail on $10,000 bond. After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Ivan Davis agreed to release 60-year-old Kevin Mallory to home confinement.

The judge wanted to know on Thursday if the search of Mallory's Leesburg home had turned up any other classified documents. The prosecutor in the case said they had found one SD card inside the house that had eight classified documents on it. They were already aware of four of them.

Government prosecutors argued in court that Mallory should remain behind bars because the Chinese government would have great incentive to get him out of the country to see what is in his head. They said there was evidence Mallory was going to sell other documents to the Chinese. They also found some wigs and some fake mustaches inside a closet in his house indicating that Mallory was well aware of how to use tradecraft.

Prosecutor John Gibbs told the court that the Chinese gave Mallory a phone to communicate with them and had indicated he was setting up a bank account in another name where the Chinese could allegedly deposit money.

But the defense argued Mallory is the straightest of straight arrows. He is an Army veteran who was captured and wounded in Iraq. The reason he went to government officials is because he was concerned the people he had met in China were part of the intelligence community and he was not going to betray his country.

However, prosecutors argued that Mallory had money troubles and the only money he made this year was the $25,000 Mallory says the Chinese paid him for what he described as two white papers.

The FBI conducted an extensive search of Mallory's Leesburg home last week and prosecutors said some of what was found there is still being analyzed.

Several supporters of Mallory came to court on Thursday, which included Mallory's son and wife.

The judge said he was given several letters from people who were vouching for Mallory's good character. But from the bench, he wanted to know if the people who wrote those letters knew beforehand the charges against the 60-year-old. He was assured they all knew.