A man accused of selling Top Secret information to China has been ordered held without bond after prosecutors revealed his links to the CIA.

A magistrate had initially ruled that 60-year-old Kevin Mallory of Leesburg could be free on bond while he awaits trial on charges of violating the Espionage Act. Prosecutors say Mallory was caught by Customs agents with $16,500 in undeclared cash earlier this year on a flight from Shanghai, prompting the investigation.

In court papers Friday, prosecutors revealed for the first time that Mallory was a covert CIA case officer from 1990 to 1996, and later a CIA contractor.

At Friday’s hearing in Alexandria, U.S. Senior Judge T.S. Ellis III ordered Mallory held without bond after prosecutors argued his experience in spycraft makes him a flight risk.

(AP)