WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - A former senior adviser to the U.S. Federal Reserve was sentenced to 38 months in federal prison for making false statements to investigators about sharing restricted information related to the central bank with Chinese intelligence operatives, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

John Harold Rogers, 64, was arrested in early 2025 on charges he conspired to steal Fed trade secrets for the benefit of China, prosecutors said at the time.

In his trial, a federal jury deliberated for two days before finding Rogers guilty on February 3 "of making false statements to government investigators at the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," the Justice Department said in a statement.

"John Rogers spent years secretly funneling sensitive Federal Reserve information to Chinese spies, then looked investigators in the eye and lied about it. And when that wasn't enough, he lied again under oath at trial," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Dabney Friedrich ordered Rogers to serve 12 months of supervised release. Federal prosecutors had requested a 60-month prison term.

Rogers worked as a senior adviser in the Fed's division of international finance from 2010 until 2021. Prosecutors said he shared confidential information with Chinese co-conspirators who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and posed as graduate students.

China said at the time of his arrest last year that it did not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

The Fed's international finance division is responsible for basic research, policy analysis, and reporting in the areas of foreign economic activity, U.S. external trade and capital flows, and developments in international financial markets and institutions, according to the U.S. central bank's website.