Replies

The simple fact of the matter is that, Jew or not, Israel or not, if Jonathan Pollard had simply said "I'm sorry" and kept his mouth shut after that, he'd be out by now and be enjoying a comfortable retirement somewhere in Israel.

So you think he would have only received about 15 years on the merits of his case ...

Some of these cases are even more interesting in comparing to Pollard's:

NSA spies

1998 - DAVID SHELDON BOONE, a former Army signals analyst for the National Security Agency, was arrested 10 October and charged with selling Top Secret documents to agents of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991, including a 600-page manual describing US reconnaissance programs and a listing of nuclear targets in Russia. Boone was arrested at a suburban Virginia hotel after being lured from his home in Germany to the United States in a FBI sting operation. He had worked for the NSA for three years before being reassigned to Augsburg, Germany, in 1988, and retired from the Army in 1991. In October 1988, the same month that he separated from his wife and children, Boone walked into the Soviet Embassy in Washington and offered his services. According to a FBI counterintelligence agent’s affidavit, Boone was under "severe financial and personal difficulties" when he began spying. His former wife had garnished his Army sergeant’s pay, leaving him with only $250 a month. According to the federal complaint, Boone met with his handler about four times a year from late 1988 until June 1990, when his access to classified information was suspended because of "his lack of personal and professional responsibility." He held a Top Secret clearance from 1971 and gained access to SCI information in 1976. He is alleged to have received payments totaling more than $60,000 from the KGB. Boone was indicted on three counts: one for conspiracy to commit espionage and the other two related to his alleged passing of two Top Secret documents to his Soviet handler. On 18 December, Boon pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and on 26 February 1999 he was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison. Under a plea agreement Boone was also required to forfeit $52,000 and a hand-held scanner he used to copy documents. Washington Post, 6 November 1998, "Ex-NSA Indicted for Spying" Washington Post, 9 November 1998, "Trial Set for Ex-NSA Analyst" Washington Post, 27 February, 1999, "Ex-NSA Worker Gets 24 Years for Spying" ***
1996 – ROBERT STEPHAN LIPKA, former National Security Agency staff member, was taken into custody on February 23 at his home in Millersville, Pennsylvania, and charged with committing espionage while workings as a communications clerk from 1964 to 1967. While an Army enlisted man from age 19 to 22, Lipka worked in the NSA central communications room and reportedly provided the KGB with a constant stream of highly classified reports. He is believed to have caused extensive damage to US intelligence collection activities. According to James Bamford of the Los Angeles Times, since Lipka provided Top Secret information to the KGB during the war in Vietnam, he may have been responsible for the loss of American lives. He is said to have used dead drops along the C&O Canal near the Potomac River and was paid between $500 and $1000 per delivery. Lipka left the NSA in 1967 and stopped meeting with his KGB handlers in 1974. He became a suspect in 1993 as a result of information believed to have been provided to the FBI by his ex-wife. His role in espionage was confirmed by FBI agents posing as Russian contacts. According to an FBI spokesman, while the government was aware of a major security breach in the 1960s, it had not been able to identify Lipka as a suspect until it had received the additional information. It is believed that Lipka is the young soldier described in the autobiography of former KGB major general Kalugin who tells of a walk-in in the mid-1960s who was interested in money. According to Kalugin, the documents which the soldier passed included Top Secret NSA reports to the White House and copies of communications on US troop movements around the world. The price reportedly paid by the Soviets during the period of his betrayal was $27,000. On 23 May 1997, Robert Lipka pleaded guilty to one count of espionage in exchange for a jail term of no more than 18 years. On 24 September, he was sentenced to serve a term of 18 years in Federal prison. Washington Post, 24 Feb 1996, "FBI Arrests Ex-Soldier As Mysterious KGB Spy In Supersecret NSA" Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar 1996, "Has A 30-year Mystery Unraveled?" Wall Street Journal, 21 Nov 1996, "How the FBI Broke Spy Case That Baffled Agency For 30 Years" Baltimore Sun, 24 May 1997, "Ex-clerk at NSA Is Guilty Of Spying; Former Soldier Sold Secret Documents To Soviets In Mid-1960s" ***
1987 - HOU DESHENG, a military attaché of the People's Republic of China, was detained by FBI agents on 21 December while attempting to obtain Secret National Security Agency documents from a federal employee. Desheng was taken into custody at a restaurant in Washington's Chinatown after accepting what he believed to be classified NSA documents. The federal employee, a US citizen, had been working under FBI direction. Arrested at the same time was ZANG WEICHU, a PRC consular official in Chicago. Both diplomats were asked to leave the country as a result of "activities incompatible with their diplomatic status" – the first Chinese diplomats expelled since formal relations were established with the PRC in 1979. New York Times, 31 Dec 1987, "2 Chinese Depart in Espionage Case" Washington Post, 31 Dec 1987, "US Expels Two Chinese Diplomats as Spies" ***
1985 - RONALD WILLIAM PELTON, former communications specialist with the National Security Agency for 14 years, was identified as a spy for the Soviet Union based on facts provided by defector Vitaly Yurchenko. Arrested in Annapolis on 25 November, Pelton admitted making contacts with the Soviets in 1980, a year after he left NSA. At the time he was faced with serious financial difficulties. Pelton reportedly visited the Soviet Embassy in Washington where he agreed to sell classified information and subsequently made several trips to Vienna, Austria, where he was debriefed at length by the KGB. During his employment in NSA, Pelton had access to a wide range of highly sensitive information. He allegedly received $35,000 from the Soviets between 1980 and 1983 for information about highly classified US intelligence collection projects targeted at the Soviet Union. Pelton was indicted 20 December on six counts related to espionage. Despite his statement at the time of arrest, Pelton pleaded not guilty. Following a highly publicized trial, Pelton was convicted (5 June 1986) on one count of conspiracy and two counts of espionage. On 6 December 1986, he was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences. Washington Post, 26 Nov 1985, "FBI Says Spy Suspect Admits Selling Data" Washington Post, 7 Dec 1985, "Accused Spy Ronald Pelton Was Preoccupied with Money" New York Times, 28 Nov 1985, "Ex-Security Agency Employee Said to Have Admitted Spying"