Former Federal Reserve adviser gets more than three years for lying in espionage-linked case

John Rogers, a former senior adviser in the Federal Reserve’s division of international finance, was sentenced on July 15, 2026, to 38 months in prison and 12 months of supervised release for lying to investigators about sharing restricted information outside the central bank. The case drew attention because it centered on allegations that Rogers concealed contacts with Chinese intelligence operatives and denied sharing nonpublic Federal Reserve information, including material related to monetary policy and Federal Open Market Committee deliberations. A jury convicted Rogers in February 2026 of making a false statement after he said in a 2020 interview that he had never shared restricted Fed information outside the board. Jurors, however, acquitted him of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, rejecting the prosecution’s more serious allegation. Prosecutors said Rogers worked at the Fed from 2010 to 2021, began a clandestine relationship in 2017 with Hummin Lee, described as a Chinese intelligence operative, and shared information during trips to China while receiving professorships and financial benefits. They argued that advance knowledge of Fed rate decisions could have enabled Beijing to profit from trading its roughly $1.5 trillion in U.S. Treasurys. Rogers had already spent about 18 months in custody, which will be credited toward his sentence.