WASHINGTON (AP) — A former high-ranking official with the Environmental Protection Agency pleaded guilty Friday to stealing nearly $900,000 from the agency over 13 years by failing to show up for work while falsely claiming to be working for the CIA and for filing bogus expenses.

John C. Beale, 64, a former deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Air and Radiation, accepted a plea agreement with the government at a court hearing. U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola read the evidence against Beale and asked if it were true.