The government is recommending a 17 1/2-year prison term for an American security guard who admits he tried to sell secret photos and other secret information to China's Ministry of State Security after the guard lost $159,000 in the stock market.

The Justice Department says Bryan Underwood took photographs of restricted areas at the new U.S. consulate in Guangzhou and planned to use them to help China eavesdrop on U.S. officials. Underwood drafted a letter expressing his desire to work for the China ministry, but was turned away when he attempted to deliver it.

Underwood came under suspicion when a polygraph examination by U.S. law enforcement agents detected deception in some of his answers. He pleaded guilty to attempting to communicate national defense information to a foreign government.