June 1, 1999
Web posted at: 3:52 p.m. EDT (1952 GMT)

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A former intelligence analyst for Australia pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he attempted to sell top-secret U.S. defense information.

During the seven-minute proceeding in federal court, 28-year- old Jean-Philippe Wispelaere, dressed in green prison clothes, said nothing. Wispelaere's attorney, Nina Ginsberg, entered the plea of not guilty to attempted espionage.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III scheduled a hearing for June 4 to set a pretrial schedule and consider a defense request to delay the jury trial. Ellis tentatively set September 13 as the trial date.

The defense requested an additional month because of the large volume of classified documents involved in the case. Ginsberg told the judge there is "a question as to whether a foreign country was aided and this country was harmed."

Wispelaere was arrested in May at Dulles Airport, following an FBI sting operation. The government claims Wispelaere sold hundreds of classified documents to an agent posing as a spy.

Citing diplomatic sensitivities, authorities have refused to disclose to which nation Wispelaere believed he was selling documents.

The indictment says Wispelaere received $120,000 from FBI undercover agents during the investigation. Wispelaere said he had "a dire financial need," according to court documents.

The indictment says Wispelaere gained access to U.S. defense information last year, when he spent six months working at the Australian Defense Intelligence Organization in Canberra. The agency cooperates with U.S. intelligence agencies on top-secret defense projects.

U.S. officials say the Australian abruptly resigned on January 12, and six days later walked into an embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, where he attempted to sell classified information.

The embassy tipped off U.S. officials. The FBI then set up a sting operation, and lured Wispelaere to the United States, where he was arrested May 15.

Wispelaere, a resident of Melbourne, was born in Montreal and had passports from Canada, France and Australia, U.S. officials said.

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