Prosecutors Defer Charges Against Ex-CIA Analyst

Federal prosecutors filed a deferred prosecution agreement on Oct. 13, 2026, in New York for former CIA analyst Sue Mi Terry on two felony counts of conspiracy to violate FARA filed in July 2024. Charges drop after one year if she complies. She is barred from contacting South Korean intelligence officials for that year. Trial had been set for Oct. 27, 2026. Terry acknowledged relaying notes from a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to South Korean intelligence officers and receiving luxury gifts. Prosecutors alleged gifts including a $2,845 Dolce & Gabbana coat, a $3,450 Louis Vuitton handbag, and at least $37,000 to her think tank gift account, with money from the highest levels of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, and that she began as a foreign agent in 2013. CONTESTED: Prosecutors said she acted as an unregistered agent for South Korea. Attorney Lee Wolosky said she served her country "loyally for many years," was pleased with the outcome, and that her interactions furthered US interests as a specialist on North Korea and East Asia. Prosecutors gave no specific explanation beyond the deal serving both sides' interests. The FBI interviewed Terry voluntarily in 2014, when she was visibly nervous, and again in 2023.