Soldier Acquitted of Espionage Charges

A soldier accused of passing a secret computer code to a Chinese citizen was found innocent of espionage, the most serious charge he faced at his Ft. Bragg court-martial. But Pfc. Eric Jenott, 21, was guilty of damaging government property and computer fraud, the military jury found after lawyers presented closing arguments behind closed doors. Jenott, of Graham, Wash., was sentenced to three years in prison and given a bad-conduct discharge. The sentence will be appealed automatically. He faced up to life in prison if convicted of spying. Prosecutors said Jenott broke into Pentagon computers and gave a secret computer password to Chinese citizen Qihang Liu. Prosecutors contended Jenott was trying to gain favor with the Chinese government because he wanted to defect to China.