1997 – PETER H. LEE, a nuclear physicist who worked at key research facilities for more than 30 years, turned himself in to authorities and pleaded guilty on 8 December 1997 to two felony counts, one for passing national defense information and the other for providing false statements to the government.

Dr. Lee admitted that in 1985, while working as a research physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he traveled to the People’s Republic of China. During this visit Lee discussed with a group of approximately 30 Chinese scientists the construction of hohlraums, diagnostic devices used in conjunction with lasers to create microscopic nuclear detonations. Prosecutors stated Lee acknowledged that he knew the information was classified.

The second charge against Lee concerned disclosures he failed to make in 1997 while he was working on classified research projects for TRW. Before he traveled to China on vacation, Lee was required to fill out a security form in which he stated he would not be giving lectures on his work. Upon his return, he had to fill out a second form in which he confirmed that he did not give any lectures of a technical nature. However, as Lee later confessed to the FBI, he lied on both forms because he intended to and did, in fact, deliver lectures to Chinese scientists that discussed his work on microwave backscattering from the sea surface.

Dr. Lee told the FBI that he disclosed the information because he wanted to help his Chinese counterparts and he wanted to enhance his reputation in China. According to US Government sources, Lee did receive compensation for the information he provided to the Chinese in the form of travel and hotel accommodations. The case resulted from an investigation by agents from the FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Squad. On 26 March 1998, Dr. Lee was sentenced to one year in a community corrections facility, three years of probation, and ordered to perform 3,000 hours of community service and pay $20,000 in fines.

Counterintelligence News Digest, March 1998, "US Physicist Pleads Guilty"
Washington Post, 12 Dec. 1997, "Taiwan Born Scientist Passes Defense Information"
Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 1997, "Physicist admits passing laser secrets to Chinese scientists."

***

1997 – JAMES MICHAEL CLARK , a private investigator, was arrested 4 October along with KURT ALLEN STAND and THERESE MARIE SQUILLACOTE, and charged with spying for East Germany. Clark was recruited by his friend Kurt Stand in 1976 when both were members of the Young Workers Liberation League while attending the University of Wisconsin.

Media sources state that a 1975 FBI report describing Clark's participation in the youth arm of the communist party was the basis on which his subsequent application to the CIA for employment was denied. However, in 1986 Clark received a Secret clearance for his work for a private firm doing contract work for the government. And in 1992, according to media reports, the Army renewed his access after hiring him as a civilian analyst. According to news reports, as a defense contractor at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Boulder, Colorado, in the 1970s, Clark had access to classified information on chemical warfare.

He was also accused of giving East Germany classified State and Commerce Department documents about the Soviet leadership, the Soviet’s strategic nuclear doctrine, and problems in the military of Soviet bloc countries. He reportedly told an undercover agent that, under the guise of needing help with a research report, he obtained these classified documents—including at least one classified as Top Secret—from two State Department employees. Clark admittedly passed information to his German handlers in the form of microfiche. Law enforcement officials and court documents describe Clark as a radical who fell into spying from 1979 to 1989 as an extension of his Marxist ideology.

Clark received at total of $17,500 from East Germany and spent much of it travelling to meet his handler in Germany, Mexico and Canada. Clark was convicted on 3 June 1998 on a charge of conspiracy to commit espionage and on 4 December was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison. This reduced sentence was a result of his testimony at the trial of Stand and Squillacote that aided in their conviction.

Washington Post, 4 Jun 1998, "Falls Church Man Pleads Guilty to Passing Secrets to East Germany"
Washington Post, 7 Oct 1997, "Three Former Campus Leftists Held in VA on Espionage Charges"
New York Times, 5 Dec 1998, "Spy, in Plea Agreement, Is Given 12-Year Sentence"

***

1995 - JOHN DOUGLAS CHARLTON, retired Lockheed Corporation engineer, was arrested on 25 May for attempting to sell secret documents removed from the company at the time of his retirement. According to an Assistant US Attorney, the plans concerned the Sea Shadow, a Navy stealth project and the Captor Project related to mines which release anti-submarine torpedoes. According to the 10-point espionage indictment, Charlton tried to sell the information to an FBI agent posing as a foreign government representative. Five times between July and September 1993, Charlton attempted to sell the secrets for $100,000 to the undercover agent.

Charlton joined Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, in 1980 as a research specialist and left the company under an early retirement program in 1989, but apparently was disgruntled about the circumstances of his departure. At the time of his retirement he took with him several classified documents outlining US defense projects. A search of his Lancaster, California, residence turned up a cache of illegal guns and the classified documents.

Following a plea agreement on 17 October, Charlton pleaded guilty to selling two classified schematic drawings related to the anti-submarine program. He admitted knowing that the Captor Project information that he attempted to sell to what he believed to be a French official was highly classified. According to the prosecuting attorney, "The documents would have enabled any nation to discover some of the workings of the program." On 8 April 1996, Charlton was sentenced to two years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for his guilty plea to two counts of attempted transfer of defense information. He will be placed on five years probation after his release. He is not eligible for parole.

Los Angeles Times, 26 May 1995, "Ex-Aerospace Worker Indicted In Spy Case.
Antelope Valley Press (California), 18 Oct 1995, "Valley Man Pleads Guilty To Attempted Espionage"
Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr 1996, "Retired Engineer Gets 2 Years in Defense Espionage Case"

***

1995 - ALURU J. PRASAD and SUBRAHMANYAM KOTA: On 8 October, Indian businessman, Aluru J. Prasad, and ten days later, software engineer Subrahmanyan Kota, were arrested and detained for their involvement in a spy ring that sold highly sensitive defense technology to the KGB between 1985 and 1990. Prasad, a wealthy Indian national who frequently visited the United States, was alleged to have been an agent of the KGB. Kota, a naturalized US citizen, was president of the Boston Group computer consulting firm. According to an FBI affidavit, the pair met Russian agents in Bermuda, Portugal, Switzerland, and other foreign locations and at these meetings passed classified defense information.

At the time of their indictment, it was revealed that Kota and another conspirator, Vemuri Reddy, had been arrested the previous December by FBI agents, who were posing as Russian intelligence agents, to whom they had attempted to sell (for $300,000) micro-organisms used in the production of a high-tech drug. Beginning in 1989, Prasad plotted with Kota of Northborough, Massachusetts, and other unnamed persons to obtain classified technology from a network defense contractor employee. Prasad and Kota specifically sought information about mercury cadmium telluride missile detectors, radar-absorbing coating used on stealth fighters and bombers, and semiconductor components used in infrared missile-tracking systems.

According to their indictment, the two received $100,000 for information about each project. On 29 October 1996, former KGB intelligence officer Vladimir Galkin was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States at Kennedy Airport in New York. Galkin was alleged to have been Kota and Prasad’s contact with the KGB and met with Kota in Cyprus beginning in late 1990. Although Galkin had not committed espionage on American soil, he was charged for his involvement in the conspiracy.

In June 1996, under a plea agreement, Kota pleaded guilty to selling stolen biotech material and evasion of income taxes and agreed to testify against Prasad. He admitted that he was paid a total of $95,000 by Prasad and his alleged KGB colleagues. Prasad’s first trial ended in a mistrial; however, in a second trial in December 1996 he was convicted of espionage charges. Under a plea agreement Prasad was sentenced to the 15 months he had served awaiting his trial and agreed to return to India. On 13 November, accused KGB intelligence agent Vladimir Galkin was released.

Boston Globe, 19 Oct 1995, "Northborough Man Charged With Espionage"
Boston Globe, 12 Jun 1996, "A Post-Cold War Spy Story Comes To Life"
Washington Times, 5 Nov 1996, Computer Check of Visa at Airport IDs Spy Suspect"

1989 - YURI N. PAKHTUSOV, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet army, arrived in the US in June 1988, as assistant military attaché with the Soviet Military Mission. Two months later he began approaching an American employee of a defense contractor to obtain documents dealing with how the US government protects classified and other sensitive information contained in its computer systems. What he didn't know was that the American reported the approaches to US authorities. Pakhtusov, 35, was caught as part of a sting operation after he received classified documents from the American employee working under FBI control. On 9 March 1989, he was ordered out of the country and declared persona non grata for engaging in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11 Mar 1989, "Soviet Diplomat Ousted As Spy"

1986 - GENNADIY F. ZAKHAROV, Soviet physicist employed at the United Nations Secretariat, was arrested on 23 August on a Queens, New York, subway platform as he gave $1000 to an employee of a US Defense contractor for three classified documents. Zakharov, who did not have diplomatic immunity, had attempted to recruit the employee over a period of three years. At the time of Zakharov's first approach, the individual, a Guyanese national and resident alien of the US, was in his junior year at Queens College, New York. Zakharov met with the student on numerous occasions and paid several thousand dollars for a wide range of technical but unclassified information about robotics, computers, and artificial intelligence.

At the time of Zakharov's first approach in April 1983, the recruitment target, identified only by the code name "Birg," informed the FBI and agreed to work under FBI control in order to apprehend the Soviet agent. Following his graduation in 1985, Birg obtained a position with a high-technology firm. Under FBI direction, he agreed to sign a ten-year written contract with Zakharov to provide classified information. Money to be paid by the Soviets was to be determined by the quantity and quality of the information. On 30 September, Zakharov pleaded no contest to espionage charges and was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. Zakharov's expulsion came less than 24 hours after the release of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff who had been arrested in the Soviet Union for alleged espionage activities.

New York Times, 24 Aug 1986, "A Soviet Official Assigned to U.N. is Seized as a Spy"
New York Times, 25 Aug 1986, "Russian's Arrest Called Example of Spy Threat"
New York Times, 26 Aug 1986, "US Investigating Further Spy Cases in New York Area"

***

1985 - RANDY MILES JEFFRIES, messenger for a private stenographic firm in Washington, DC, was arrested on 14 December and charged with attempting to deliver national defense secrets to the Soviet Union. The firm, a cleared contractor facility, had transcribed closed hearings of the House Armed Services Committee. Jeffries allegedly provided Soviet military officials with at least 40 "sample pages" of Secret and Top Secret transcripts from congressional hearings, offering to hand over a complete package of three documents for $5,000.

The investigation of Jeffries began after he was observed by US agents entering the Soviet Military Office in Washington. An FBI undercover agent posing as a Soviet representative contacted the messenger at his residence and arranged a meeting later in the day at a local hotel. Jeffries was arrested as he left the meeting. From 1978 to 1980, he was a support employee for the FBI and reportedly held an agency security clearance. In March 1983 he was convicted of possession of heroin and completed a program for rehabilitation from drug abuse in July 1985. Jeffries entered a plea of guilty on 23 January 1986. On 13 March, Jeffries was sentenced by a Federal judge to from three to nine years imprisonment. As stated by the court at the time of sentencing, it was obvious that poor security practices at the cleared facility were major contributing factors leading to the loss of classified information.

Washington Post, 22 Dec 1985, "FBI Agent Says Suspected Spy Offered to Sell Him Document"
Washington Post, 24 Dec 1985, "Transcripts Tied to Jeffries Had Strategic Data"
DoD Security Institute, Security Awareness Bulletin 2-90

1984 - THOMAS PATRICK CAVANAGH, an engineering specialist for Northrop Corporation holding a Secret clearance, was arrested on 18 December and charged with attempting to sell classified documents on Stealth aircraft technology to the Soviets.

It is reported that Cavanagh's attempts to contact the Soviet Consulate were intercepted. A meeting was proposed at a Los Angeles motel by FBI undercover agents posing as USSR representatives where a deal could be negotiated. During a subsequent meeting, agents provided the $25,000 demanded for classified documents and made the arrest. Cavanagh, recently separated from his wife, faced mounting financial difficulties and feared that he was being denied a Top Secret clearance because of indebtedness. It is reported that no serious compromise occurred. Cavanagh pleaded guilty to two counts of espionage and on 23 May 1985 was sentenced to two concurrent life terms in prison.

New York Times, 19 Dec 1984, "Engineer is Held in Scheme to Sell Secrets"
Washington Post, 22 Dec 1984, "Engineer in Secrets Case is Held Without Bail"
DoD Security Institute, Security Awareness Bulletin, Dec 1985, Number 1-86

***

1983 - JAMES DURWARD HARPER, a Silicon Valley free-lance engineer, was arrested 15 October for selling large quantities of classified documents to Polish intelligence for a reported sum of $250,000. Harper, who did not hold a clearance, acquired classified material through his wife, RUBY SCHULER. Schuler was employed by Systems Control, Inc. of Palo Alto, a Defense contractor engaged in research on ballistic missiles. Between July 1979 and November 1981, Harper conducted a total of a dozen meetings with Polish agents in Europe and Mexico at which times he turned over documents related to the Minuteman ICBM and ballistic missile research. In September 1981 Harper attempted to bargain for immunity from prosecution by anonymously contacting the CIA through a lawyer. Schuler died in June 1983 of complications related to alcoholism. Harper, who eventually pleaded guilty to six counts of espionage, received a life sentence on 14 May.

***

1983 - YURIY P. LEONOV, a lieutenant colonel in Soviet military intelligence (GRU), fronting as a Soviet air force attaché, was apprehended on 18 August after receiving 60 pounds of government documents from an editor working under FBI control. The following day Leonov, who had diplomatic immunity, was declared persona non grata and expelled from the country. This ended a two-year recruitment attempt by Leonov against Armand B. Weiss, an editor of technical publications and former government consultant. Weiss had previously held a Top Secret clearance. In all, Leonov paid Weiss $1,800 for sensitive but unclassified publications on weapon systems. Ultimately, Leonov demanded a classified document. Under FBI direction Weiss provided the item with a large number of highly technical publications for $500 cash. Leonov was arrested by agents waiting outside the office.

Washington Post, 16 Sep 1983, "Soviet Military Spy Caught in FBI Trap"

***

1981 - WILLIAM H. BELL, project manager of the Radar Systems Group at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California, and MARIAN ZACHARSKI, president of the Polish American Machinery Corporation (POLAMCO), were arraigned in June on espionage charges. Bell had been faced with financial difficulties; Zacharski in reality was an officer of the Polish intelligence service. Under the guise of business activities, and over a period of several months, Zacharski developed a relationship with Bell which resulted in the transfer of Secret documents for more than $150,000. As a result, the "quiet radar" and other sophisticated systems developed at Hughes Aircraft were seriously compromised.

On 24 June, Bell was confronted by FBI agents with the fact of his involvement in espionage which had been independently established. He confessed and agreed to cooperate with the FBI in the effort to apprehend Zacharski. On 14 December, Zacharski was convicted of espionage and received a life sentence. Bell, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to eight years. In June 1985 Zacharski was exchanged, along with three other Soviet Bloc spies, for 25 persons held in Eastern Europe. This case is seen as a classic example of recruitment of cleared US personnel for espionage by hostile intelligence operatives.

***

1977- CHRISTOPHER J. BOYCE, an employee of TRW Inc., a California-based Defense contractor, and his friend, ANDREW DAULTON LEE, were arrested in January 1977 for selling classified information to the Soviets. Over a period of several months, Boyce, employed in a vaulted communications center, removed classified code material which was passed on to KGB agents in Mexico City by Lee. The scheme, which netted the pair $70,000, was discovered only after Lee's arrest by Mexican police as he attempted to deliver classified material at the Soviet Embassy. Film strips marked Top Secret found on Lee by Mexican authorities were turned over to the American officials.

Under questioning by Mexican security police and FBI representatives, Lee implicated Boyce, who was arrested on 16 January in California. The pair are reported to have seriously compromised the Ryolite surveillance satellite system developed at TRW. Lee was sentenced to life in prison, Boyce to 40 years. In 1980 Boyce escaped from prison and spent 19 months as a fugitive. Following Boyce's second apprehension, his sentence was increased by 28 years.

New York Times, 13 Apr 1977, "Alleged Spy for Soviets Linked to CIA"
New York Times, 27 Apr 1977, "Man Said to Admit Spying for Soviets"
New York Times, 22 May 1977, "To Be Young, Rich—and a Spy"
Lindsey, Robert, The Falcon and the Snowman, Simon and Schuster, 1979
Testimony of Christopher J. Boyce before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, April 1985

***

1977 - IVAN ROGALSKY, a former Soviet merchant seaman admitted to the US as a political refugee, was arrested in New Jersey on 7 January after receiving a classified document from a cleared employee of RCA Research Center. The employee, who worked on communications satellite and defense projects, had agreed to work under FBI control after first being approached by Rogalsky. The ex-seaman had earlier asked the RCA employee for unclassified information about the space shuttle program. A second secretary of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations, YEVEGENY P. KARPOV, was named as a co-conspirator. Karpov had been suspected of being a KGB officer by the FBI. According to later press reports, Rogalsky was not tried due to questions regarding his sanity. He claimed to receive instructions from disembodied voices.

New York Times, 8 Jan 1977, "Soviet Alien Arrested in Jersey on Spy Charges"
New York Times, 9 Jan 1977, "Accused Soviet Spy Known as a Drifter"
New York Times, 16 Jan 1977, "Spy Case Clouds a Russian Holiday"

***

1975 - SADAG K. DEDEYAN, an employee of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who was cleared for access to classified information, and a relative, SARKIS O. PASKALIAN, were arrested in 1975. Disregarding regulations, Dedeyan brought home a Top Secret document on NATO defenses to work on. Paskalian, who had been recruited and trained by the KGB in 1962, surreptitiously photographed the document and allegedly sold the film to Soviet agents for a reported sum of $1,500. Dedeyan was charged with failing to report the illegal photographing of national defense information. Paskalian was charged with conspiring with Soviet agents to gather and transmit national defense information. Dedeyan was convicted and sentenced to three years. Paskalian pleaded guilty to espionage and was sentenced to 22 years.

Washington Post, 28 Jun 1975, "2 Arrested by FBI On Spying Charges;" "Relative Duped Him on Spy Photographs, Accused Man Says;" "Paskalian: Choreographer, Merchant"
New York Times, 28 Jun 1975 "2 Held in Plot to Spy for Soviets on NATO.