FBI agents arrest pair on espionage charges
Woman with Aryan ties accused of trying to pass defense secrets
Bill Morlin
Staff writer
A former Washington Army National Guard officer and his ex-wife were arrested Tuesday on espionage charges involving an alleged attempt to pass secrets to an attorney for well-known racists.
Rafael Davila, 51, and Deborah Davila-Cummings, 46, were simultaneously arrested by FBI agents at separate locations in Washington and Oregon.
Davila-Cummings is accused of attempting to pass top-secret U.S. documents. A federal source said the intended recipient was attorney Kirk Lyons of North Carolina. He is named in the indictment, but not charged.
The charges were filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane.
The indictment alleges that sometime in August 1999, Davila-Cummings attempted to deliver "national defense documents."
Her former husband is accused of "unauthorized retention" of national security documents that she's accused of attempting to deliver.
The nature of the documents isn't detailed in the indictment.
Davila was arrested at his parents' home in Ontario, Ore, authorities said. His former wife, a special education teacher for the Pasco School District, was arrested at her home in College Place, Wash.
They both face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges.
Both are named in separate counts of "unlawful retention of documents relating to the national defense of the United States."
Only Devila-Cummings is named in a third count of attempting to deliver documents relating to the national defense.
She is accused in a fourth count of making a false statement to the FBI.
On April 20, 2000, the indictment alleges, she made a "false, fraudulent and fictitious material statement" when interviewed by FBI agents.
She said "she did not recognize Kirk Lyons' name and was certain she never met Kirk Lyons, when in truth and fact she knew her statement and representation was false," the indictment says.
Her father, Earl Cummings, of Spokane, said he learned of his daughter's arrest when she called him from jail on Tuesday.
"I have no idea what they're talking about," the 80-year-old Cummings said.
Asked if his daughter had ties to the Aryan Nations or its members, Cummings responded, "None whatsoever."
He said his daughter and her former husband were divorced "some time ago," and he couldn't provide further details about the former husband's background.
Another source said Davilia served in Vietnam, then became a military intelligence officer for the Washington Army National Guard.
The couple has lived in Western Washington and Alaska, other sources said.
They were ordered held without bond after an initial appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno.
She scheduled detention hearings for Thursday.
"This case involves the sale of `top secret' and `secret' documents involved with the defense of the United States," Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks said in court on Tuesday.
Outside of court, he declined to comment. Hicks said a statement would be released today by U.S. Department of Justice officials in Washington, D.C.
Jim McDevitt, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, also wouldn't discuss details of the case.
"These espionage case are very, very important," McDevitt said. "These allegations are very, very serious."
Lyons couldn't be reached for comment in North Carolina Tuesday.
He was married at the former Aryan Nations compound to a woman whose family was close to Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler.
Lyons has called himself an "active sympathizer" with his clients, who have included former Texas Ku Klux Klan leader Louis Beam and James Wickstrom, head of the Posse Comitatus.
More recently, Lyons has been associated with the Council of Conservative Citizens.