ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: Nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee is spending his first morning as a free man after nine months in solitary confinement. The government has dropped all but one of the charges in the spy case against Lee. CNN's Tony Clark joins us now, live from White Rock, New Mexico, with the very latest. Good morning, Tony.</s>TONY CLARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Andria. It is, in fact, the first full day that Wen Ho Lee has been at home, been a free man. But, you know, it did come at a price. Yesterday, in court, he pleaded guilty to one count from the 59 count indictment account, alleging that he possessed information or writing related to the national defense. It is a felony. He was sentenced to 278 days confinement, time he that he had already served. He is losing his citizenship rights. He will not longer be able to vote and other -- other citizenship rights and over the next few weeks he must cooperate with authorities discussing why he downloaded nuclear weapons data and what he did with that data. All that being said, he was welcomed home by friends and neighbors, last night, in a joyous reunion here in White Rock. About 150 people here, they had a block party for him. They cheered him. And he told them that he was pleased and very thankful for their support.</s>WEN HO LEE, FMR. LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIST: I want to say thank you to everybody who support me and I want to say thank you to all the neighbors. They support me so much and they make me very strong when I was in jail and I really appreciate everybody.</s>CLARK: In sentencing Wen Ho Lee, Judge James Parker said the sentence was appropriate for his admission. But, the judge went on to blast the Justice Department saying that they had misled him in saying that Wen Ho Lee was a national security threat. The judge said that the Justice Department had embarrassed not only him but the entire nation and the judge apologized to Lee and his family for the nine months he spent in solitary confinement. Tony Clark, CNN, White Rock, New Mexico.
Federal Judge Blasts Justice Dept. for Handling of Lee Case