DEPTFORD, N.J. -- A former U.S. Marine and South Jersey native is at the center of a spy scandal at the White House.

Slideshow: Deptford Man Accused Of Spying
Video: Man Allegedly Passed On Sensitive Intelligence

The FBI is investigating whether Leandro Aragoncillo, of Deptford, passed classified information to the Philippines when he worked in the vice president's office. Aragoncillo worked under Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney.

After serving in Washington, Aragoncillo was hired by the FBI at Fort Monmouth, N.J. He was arrested there last month and charged with downloading and e-mailing documents from FBI computers.

Aragoncillo is accused of passing along the information to Michael Ray Aquino, a former official with the Philippines national police who was living in Queens.

Aragoncillo, a 21-year veteran of the Marine Corps, was charged last month with espionage. He is accused of giving classified U.S. intelligence about the Philippine government to an opposing political figure. Officials said it happened while he worked at Fort Monmouth.

Federal officials said that Aragoncillo is cooperating and that he said that he took the documents to aid his native country, not to hurt the United States. Government officials said that there is no indication national security has been endangered.

Neighbors described Aragoncillo as a nice, church-going man with two sons. Federal officials are now investigating whether the Deptford man accessed classified information while working at the White House.

According to court documents, officials have linked Aragoncillo to Hotmail and Yahoo accounts that were used to transmit classified information. Also, surveillance video shows Aragoncillo transferring information to a disk and taking that disk home. That same day, the documents said, sensitive information was passed along to a contact in the Philippines.

"It is both surprising and distressing that any American citizen would be involved in aiding a foreign government," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said on Sept. 12.

"I basically look at it that he's a traitor. I hate to say it, but basically that's what he is. I'm a vet, the guy next door to me, he's a 20-year guy, too. Then you find out that a guy only a couple of doors away from you is a spy and he's confessing to what he was, it's weird," said Joe Hengstler, who lives in Aragoncillo's neighborhood.

"You can't judge anybody because, we know he's a nice person, we know he's a nice neighbor and what you're accusing him of could be wrong," said Jennifer Gillen, a neighbor.