United States prosecutors are asking for Dickson Yeo to be handed a sentence of 16 months in jail, reported CNA.

The 39-year-old former National University of Singapore (NUS) student pleaded guilty in July to operating illegally as a foreign agent in the U.S.

His sentencing hearing will be held in federal court in Washington, DC on Friday (Oct. 9) morning (Friday night Singapore time).

The Straits Times reported that Yeo has been held in the U.S. jail since his arrest in November.

His lawyer Michelle Peterson is asking for a sentence of time served, which would work out to approximately 13 months.

Peterson said that Yeo will likely spend some extra time in the custody of immigration authorities while awaiting his removal from the U.S.

The Singaporean admitted to working for Chinese intelligence between 2015 and 2019, according to CNA.

Targeted military or government personnel with financial difficulties

The Straits Times reported Peterson as describing how Yeo was lonely, broke and floundering academically when he was first approached by Chinese intelligence as an NUS student in 2005.

“The Chinese gave him more respect and dignity for the work he was doing that he was able to obtain from his efforts at academia," she said.

Peterson added that Yeo was attracted to China and its ability to uplift millions from poverty with industrial policy, leading him to be easily influenced.

He was directed to establish a political consultancy in the U.S., which would be used by Yeo as a front to collect intelligence.

Yeo's modus operandi involved posting job listings for the company on an online job search website.

He received more than 400 resumes — 90 per cent of which were from U.S. military or government personnel with security clearances — before forwarding those of interest to his handlers, reported CNA.

Yeo then targeted those with financial difficulties and paid them as much as US$2,000 (S$2,710.65) to write reports they believed were for clients in Asia.

However, Yeo would send the reports to the Chinese government instead.

He was arrested in November 2019, after being approached by FBI agents while at John F. Kennedy Airport for a voluntary interview.

Deep regrets

According to The Straits Times, Yeo's lawyer said he was very remorseful and pointed out that her client had cooperated with investigators.

"He deeply regrets having gotten caught up in the swirl of satisfying Chinese intelligence requirements and compromising his own integrity."

Peterson also said that Yeo was suffering from elevated blood pressure and anxiety, depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) stemming from his service in the military in Singapore.

The lawyer arguing for leniency stressed that her client's professional reputation was in ruins and that he wanted nothing more than to return to a quiet life with his parents.

Yeo's candidature with NUS where he was sitting for his PhD, has been cancelled.

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Top image from Dickson Yeo's Facebook and Macau Photo Agency via Unsplash