Jailed CIA spy sentson to get 'pension'
Source: Agencies |
October 4, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN ex-CIA spy slipped messages to his son from prison through paper napkins wadded into balls, despite the best efforts of the intelligence agency to monitor his communications, government prosecutors said in a pretrial filing.
The Oregonian newspaper reports that according to court papers filed by prosecutors, Harold Nicholson, 59, sent his son, Nathaniel, around the globe to collect what he considered to be his "pension." In the notes, prosecutors said, Nicholson sought financial assistance from the Russians and let them know he would help them if he could.
The elder Nicholson pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring to commit espionage, after being paid US$300,000 to pass CIA secrets to the Russians. He is serving more than 23 years at the federal prison in Sheridan, near Portland.
Nathaniel Nicholson, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The trial for Harold Nicholson on the same charges begins next week in US District Court in Portland, Ore.
A pretrial memo from Harold Nicholson's defense team acknowledges that the pair carried out the plan, but contends that Nicholson didn't commit a crime. Defense lawyers wrote: "It is not illegal for someone to ask a foreign government for financial assistance, even if that person has previously been convicted of espionage."
The Oregonian newspaper reports that according to court papers filed by prosecutors, Harold Nicholson, 59, sent his son, Nathaniel, around the globe to collect what he considered to be his "pension." In the notes, prosecutors said, Nicholson sought financial assistance from the Russians and let them know he would help them if he could.
The elder Nicholson pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring to commit espionage, after being paid US$300,000 to pass CIA secrets to the Russians. He is serving more than 23 years at the federal prison in Sheridan, near Portland.
Nathaniel Nicholson, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The trial for Harold Nicholson on the same charges begins next week in US District Court in Portland, Ore.
A pretrial memo from Harold Nicholson's defense team acknowledges that the pair carried out the plan, but contends that Nicholson didn't commit a crime. Defense lawyers wrote: "It is not illegal for someone to ask a foreign government for financial assistance, even if that person has previously been convicted of espionage."
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