Posted on 02/24/2003 3:00:05 PM PST by Jean S
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A former Air Force intelligence analyst who has been found guilty of attempted spying for Iraq will not face the death penalty, a jury decided on Monday in a blow to the U.S. government.
A 12-person federal jury, which last week found Brian Regan guilty of attempted espionage and of gathering national defense information, spared his life after five days of deliberation.
The jury decided that Regan, 40, had not tried to provide certain specific military secrets to Iraq -- data deemed important enough to warrant a possible death sentence.
Regan's lawyers praised jurors for making a tough decision amid heightened political tension over Iraq.
"This is a case that should never have been a death penalty case," said attorney Jonathan Shapiro, echoing arguments made throughout the trial that since Regan was accused of only attempted spying he should not face such a harsh punishment.
Nina Ginsberg, another of Regan's attorneys, said the decision should send a strong message to Attorney General John Ashcroft, whom she accused of overreaching on death penalty cases.
No one has been executed in the United States for spying in more than 50 years.
The U.S. government had sought the death penalty on two of the four charges brought against Regan -- attempting to spy for Iraq and for Libya. The jury acquitted the former analyst of the charge related to Libya.
Although the jury found Regan guilty of attempting to spy for Iraq, it had to also say "yes" to a question that specified the type of information -- all related to defense intelligence -- that he was attempting to provide to Iraq.
Since the jury said "no," Regan was spared possible execution. U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee will sentence Regan on May 9 on two counts of attempted spying for Iraq and China and one count of gathering national defense information.
LETTER TO SADDAM
After the jury's partial verdict last Thursday, U.S. called the decision a victory for American people.
"It comes at an important moment in American history when our need to safeguard military secrets has never been more critical," U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said on Thursday.
U.S. prosecutors had accused Regan of betraying his country by offering to sell top secret defense information for $13 million.
They said Regan had written nearly identical letters to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein between 1999 and 2001 and to Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi offering to sell highly classified data about U.S. satellites, early warning systems and U.S. defense strategy.
In the letters Regan, who had a top-secret clearance until August 2001, posed as a CIA analyst who had access to various intelligence documents.
When Regan was arrested in August 2001 as he was about to board a plane for Switzerland, he was carrying hidden in his shoe the encrypted coordinates of a surface-to-air missile site in the "no-fly" zone in northern Iraq and coordinates of a missile site in China.
Regan, who used to work at the agency that runs the nation's spy satellites, was also carrying addresses of Chinese and Iraqi embassies in Europe.
Prosecutors said Regan accessed top-secret information via Intelink -- the U.S. intelligence community's classified version of the Internet -- on Iraq, Iran, Libya and China and topics like nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
The defense said during the trial that Regan was doing the research to keep current on his areas of expertise. They also said Regan did not intend to be a spy and never actually sent the letters to Saddam or Gaddafi.
Maybe I missed something, but why would he be giving the coordinates of an Iraqi SAM site to the Iraqis?
A blow the the U.S government? The libs will spin this as the US government, controlled by republicans, were frothing at the mouth, waiting for the change to execute a spy, and to prove Bush is a killer from Texas.
US Constitution. Article III. Section. 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
You can count on Reuters to always get in their usual slam of the administration. According to them Ashcroft and company are a bunch of death angels. Sheesh.
Yeah - as if he would pore over his material and tell himself "this is too specific, but this isn't - I'll go with this". Stupid jury; prosecutors have got some soul searching to do.
Well, heck man, that's EASY - the Iraqis have no clue where the REST of their weapons are, right? He as just doing it so they could help the UN Inspectors!
Does the judge decide how long this guy will be behind bars? It will be interesting to see what sentence he hands down.
I can't see how this is a blow to the U.S. Govt. The guy WAS convicted, he just wasn't given the death penalty!
Yes, just doing the best he can in such difficult times. Plus his mother probably smoked cigarettes, which explains everything.
Stay Safe !
To show that he had access to the right information. Of great value to Saddam would be for him to know what we know. That is, if he is setting up secret SAM sites in the no-fly zone, he would want to know which ones that we know about.
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