Why?
Maybe this has something to do with it.
“Ron Olive, the agent in charge of counterintelligence for the NIS at the time of Pollard’s arrest, published a book about the case in 2006. Olive told the BBC that the incident was “one of the most devastating cases of espionage in US history” during which Pollard stole over “one million classified documents”.[13]
Sentencing and incarceration
Pollard was sentenced to life in prison on one count of espionage on March 4, 1987. The prosecutor complied with the plea agreement and asked for “only a substantial number of years in prison”; Judge Aubrey Robinson, Jr. imposed the life sentence after hearing the statements of the Secretary of Defense, the Director of Central Intelligence, and other U.S. government officials (plea agreements are not binding upon judges).[23] In 1987, Pollard began his life sentence, which he is still serving. Pollard’s wife, Anne, was sentenced to five years in prison but was released after three and a half years because of health problems.
At the time of Pollard’s sentencing there was a rule that mandated parole at thirty years for prisoners like him if they had maintained a clean record in prison. That parole date would be November 21, 2015. Also, Pollard was eligible to apply for parole after eight years and six months, though he has never done so.[24]
Pollard is federal prisoner #09185-016 and is incarcerated at the Butner Federal Correction Complex in Butner, North Carolina.