In the corridors of power in Washington D.C., trust is the most valuable currency. For Leandro Aragoncillo, a decorated U.S. Marine turned FBI intelligence analyst, that trust had granted him access to the nation’s most sensitive secrets. He served two Vice Presidents, Al Gore and Dick Cheney, and held a top-secret security clearance that was a testament to his seemingly unblemished record of service to his adopted country.

But behind this facade of a model Filipino-American success story, Aragoncillo was living a stunning double life. For years, he was acting as a mole, a spy at the very heart of the U.S. government, feeding classified information to powerful political figures in the Philippines in a brazen attempt to topple a sitting president.

Born in the Philippines in 1958, Aragoncillo and his family immigrated to New Jersey in 1982. The following year, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served with distinction for over a decade, rising to the rank of Sergeant. His exemplary record and specialized skills made him a prime candidate for a prestigious post-military career.

He joined the White House as a staff assistant, a position he held from 1999 to 2002, before transitioning to the FBI as an intelligence analyst. He had achieved a level of access and influence that few Filipino-Americans had ever reached.

The plot began in 2000 during a White House visit by then-Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. President Bill Clinton introduced the two men, and Estrada, seeing a valuable connection, gave Aragoncillo his business card. This brief encounter would set in motion a four-year-long campaign of espionage.

At the time, Estrada was embroiled in a massive corruption scandal and facing impeachment. According to Aragoncillo’s later confession, he was approached by Estrada’s allies and recruited to act as a mole, with his mission being to provide classified U.S. intelligence that could help Estrada navigate his political crisis and, later, plot a return to power.

For four years, from the White House and later from his desk at the FBI, Aragoncillo used his top-secret clearance to systematically steal hundreds of classified documents. He downloaded information on the U.S. government’s assessment of the political situation in the Philippines, sensitive intelligence on government officials, and, most damningly, a document described as a “blueprint on how to execute a coup.”

He communicated with his handlers in the Philippines using a series of secret Hotmail and Yahoo accounts, sending over 2,000 emails containing classified information.

His co-conspirator in the United States was Michael Ray Aquino, a high-ranking and controversial Philippine National Police official. Aquino, a top aide to a key Estrada ally, had fled the Philippines in 2001 to escape charges related to a high-profile double murder case. He was living as a fugitive in the U.S., and Aragoncillo used his position to feed him a steady stream of intelligence.

The scheme began to unravel in 2005, not because of a sophisticated counter-intelligence operation, but because of Aragoncillo’s own carelessness.

When Aquino was finally arrested by U.S. immigration authorities for overstaying his visa, Aragoncillo began to obsessively and repeatedly inquire about the case, raising red flags with an alert immigration agent who reported his suspicious behavior to the FBI.

A secret surveillance operation was launched against their own analyst. FBI agents monitored his every move, his computer activity, and his communications, and quickly uncovered the shocking extent of his betrayal.

In a dramatic raid, both Aragoncillo and Aquino were arrested. Faced with an overwhelming mountain of evidence, including CCTV footage of him downloading and printing classified documents, both men accepted plea deals. Aragoncillo claimed his actions were motivated by a misguided patriotism, a desire to help the “poor Filipino masses.” But prosecutors painted a different picture, one of greed, revealing evidence that he had also been in contact with the French intelligence service, suggesting he was selling secrets to the highest bidder.

In 2007, Leandro Aragoncillo was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Michael Ray Aquino received a sentence of just over six years. After his release, Aquino was deported back to the Philippines, where he was eventually acquitted of the murder charges against him on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

The story of Leandro Aragoncillo remains one of the most significant and shocking espionage cases involving a Filipino-American in U.S. history, a real-life spy thriller about a man who, from the very heart of American power, chose to betray his country for the intrigues of his homeland.