A former New York City police officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison Wednesday after being convicted in 2023 for acting illegally as an agent of China.

In 2016, an unknown client hired Michael McMahon as a private investigator to surveil a New Jersey resident named Xu Jin, whom the Chinese government had accused of corruption. The surveillance was part of a global campaign by Chinese law enforcement, known as “Operation Fox Hunt,” to repatriate alleged criminals living abroad.

A jury in Brooklyn convicted McMahon, 53, in 2023 of interstate stalking and of acting as an agent of China without notifying the U.S. attorney general. He was found not guilty of conspiracy to act as a foreign agent. 

As a part of his work, McMahon and the clients tried to convince Xu and his family to return to China.

“This type of crime really does threaten our country’s national security,” Federal District Court Judge Pamela Chen said.

“McMahon, a former law enforcement officer who swore an oath to protect the public, went rogue and dishonorably engaged in a scheme at the direction of the People’s Republic of China,” John Durham, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

McMahon pleaded not guilty to all charges. He claimed he was hired by a company seeking to recover embezzled funds, noting he would not have taken the job if he knew he was working for the Chinese government.

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“I never thought for one minute I was working for China, stalking anyone,” he said during his sentencing, adding, “This is such a nightmare.”

Two House Republicans, Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and  Pete Sessions (R-TX) sent a letter to the judge asking her not to sentence McMahon, saying they “believe in his innocence.”