The Los Alamos scientist fired and imprisoned on charges of mishandling nuclear-weapons secrets has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for no additional jail time.
Wen Ho Lee will enter a plea to one felony count of unlawfully retaining nuclear-weapons secrets and be sentenced to time served.
He’ll be immediately freed following a hearing, according to federal sources.
Lee, jailed for nine months, has also agreed to provide information on seven missing computer tapes with data on nuclear-weapons design and testing.
Three other tapes with information Lee allegedly downloaded have been recovered.
“The location and fate of the tapes were always of paramount concern,” one official said.
Lee said earlier he had destroyed the seven tapes, but officials believe the tapes might still exist.
Lee, 60, was accused of downloading restricted material about nuclear weapons to unsecured computers and tapes while working at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
His trial had been set for Nov. 6, and he could have faced life in prison if convicted of all 59 counts.