Convicted ex-Chicago college student part of U.S.-China spy swap, authorities say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- An ex-Chicago college student convicted on charges he was acting as a spy for China is part of a prisoner exchange in a deal cut by the White House for the release of three Americans held for years by Beijing.

When Chaoqun Ji -- whose name is listed in U.S. court documents as Ji Chaoqun -- was convicted in a spy scheme and sent to prison for eight years, he vehemently denied being a spy.

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Now, Ji and his convicted Chinese spy handler are part of a spy swap with China, resulting in the return of three Americans long held by Beijing who were also accused of being spies.

Three Chinese nationals headed overseas, and three Americans headed home for quite a holiday.

"I don't think anybody knew about it," said longtime Chicago criminal defense attorney Damon Cheronis, who represented Ji in his criminal trial. "Between myself and my client, I don't think we were aware of it."

Cheronis told the I-Team in the coming weeks, he was planning to meet Ji at the Terre Haute federal prison in Indiana, where Ji was serving an eight-year sentence for what is known in the spycraft trade as "espionage light," or working as an unregistered agent for China.

Now there's no need for Cheronis to attend a jailhouse legal strategy meeting, because Ji and his convicted Chinese spy handler, Yanjun Xu, are among three Chinese nationals released from custody Wednesday, according to two sources with knowledge of the prisoner swap.

Three Chinese nationals were traded for three Americans held in Chinese custody and accused of being spies: Mark Swidan, Kai Lee and John Leung.

Families for the three Americans say they are due to land in San Antonio, Texas late Wednesday evening.

Chinese national Ji, 33, was convicted on charges related to providing intelligence officials in China with background check information on eight American citizens including defense contractors, federal investigators previously told the I-Team.

Ji had arrived in Chicago in 2013 with a student visa to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side.

Ji and a similarly-accused spy in Cincinnati, Ohio, Yanjun Xu, shared the same foreign connection according to authorities, what's known in intelligence circles as a "handler."

Xu was accused of stealing trade secrets from GE Aviation, the giant military contractor and manufacturer. He was sentenced in 2022 to 20 years in prison.

One of the first hints of Wednesday's prisoner swap came from a federal court filing on Wednesday morning that was reviewed by the I-Team. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago declared in a motion that "Ji Chaoqun has been released from U.S. Marshal's custody."

The news took Ji's attorney by surprise.

"The State Department does this with other countries, you know, sort of with regularity," Cheronis said. "I read the articles today about the individuals who were being released from China, and great for them. Great for these American citizens to come home to their families."

The U.S. considered all three Americans to be wrongfully detained by China.

Chinese officials convicted the Americans of drug and spy charges, sentencing Swidan to a life sentence, despite a lack of evidence.

"I think that it's equitable, hopefully. And that everybody comes home and enjoys Thanksgiving and can be with their families," Cheronis told the I-Team.

In a separate but related move on Wednesday, the State Department loosened its travel warning for Americans going to China, urging simply "increased caution." Previously US officials warned a "risk of wrongful detention."