U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride, whose office prosecuted the case, said that Soueid's actions bolstered a regime that is murdering its own people.

"Mr. Soueid betrayed this country to work on behalf of a state sponsor of terror," MacBride said. "While the autocratic Syrian regime killed, kidnapped, intimidated and silenced thousands of its own citizens, Mr. Soueid spearheaded efforts to identify and intimidate those protesting against the Syrian government in the United States."

Prosecutors said in court papers that Soueid began working for Syrian intelligence in March 2011, when the uprising in Syria began. They say he provided dozens of video and audio recordings of U.S.-based dissidents, including nine video recordings that were otherwise unavailable publicly.