Sami Khoshaba Latchin is an ethnic Assyrian

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 and Christian Iraqi-born U.S. citizen

United States nationality law

Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...

, who was jailed for four years for acting as a sleeper agent of the Iraqi government.

Biography

Sami Khoshaba Latchin was born in Dohuk, Iraq. He moved to the U.S. in 1993, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998.

Spy charges

Latchin was arrested by U.S. federal agents in August 2004, on charges of making false statements to immigration officials when he applied for his citizenship. The indictment claimed Latchin failed to disclose his employment by the Iraqi Intelligence Service

Iraqi Intelligence Service

The Iraqi Intelligence Service , also known as the Mukhabarat, General Directorate of Intelligence, or Party Intelligence, was the main state intelligence organization in Iraq under Saddam Hussein...

 and membership Iraq's Baath Party

Baath Party

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was a political party mixing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist interests, opposed to Western imperialism, and calling for the renaissance or resurrection and unification of the Arab world into a single state. Ba'ath is also spelled Ba'th or Baath and means...

. It also claimed that Latchin was a deep undercover "sleeper

Sleeper agent

A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated...

" spy, and that he had travelled overseas three times to meet with his handlers. Latchin pleaded innocent to these charges. He was sentenced to four years in prison.