Pasco high teacher, ex charged in espionage

FBI agents arrested and charged a Pasco High School special education teacher and her ex-husband, a former Washington Army National Guard officer, with espionage.

The government declined to release details, but a federal attorney said the case "involves the sale of 'top secret' and 'secret' documents involved with the defense of the United States" during a court session in Spokane.

Deborah Davila-Cummings, 46, and Rafael Davila, 51, were arrested Tuesday and were being held without bail. Authorities have not said where.

Pasco School District officials said Davila-Cummings currently was employed by the district, but wouldn't say how long she had worked there. Pasco High staff members were summoned to a special meeting after school Wednesday about the incident.

"At this point, we haven't been contacted by any investigative agencies," said Fay Tolley Smith, district spokeswoman. "We're going strictly on the news reports. ... It's a bit of a shock here.

"Officials for the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney's Office in Spokane and the FBI in Spokane and Seattle declined to provide any details.

"Clearly we can't comment on those things for national security reasons," said Ray Lauer, an FBI spokesman in Seattle.

The indictment said that between Jan. 1 and Aug. 20, 1999, both defendants had unauthorized possession of sensitive documents and attempted to deliver them to Kirk Lyons of North Carolina, an attorney for well-known racists. He is named in the indictment, but not charged, reported The Spokesman-Review.

Lyons has represented Ku Klux Klan and Posse Comitatus leaders in past trials.

The indictment also contends that around Aug. 20, 1999, Davila-Cummings made a false statement to federal agents that she did not recognize the name of Lyons and was certain she had never met him. The indictment said she knew those statements were false.

Davila-Cummings also was indicted for allegedly trying between Aug. 1-15, 1999, to deliver the documents.

Davila-Cummings has visited the former Aryan Nations compound in north Idaho and has ties to certain Aryan Nations members, according to The Spokesman-Review.

Lyons, an attorney in Black Mountain, N.C., said Wednesday that he did not know Rafael Davila, barely knew Davila-Cummings and had no connection to any espionage.

"That's the most hilarious, funny, ridiculous thing I've heard in my life," Lyons said, questioning the reliability of any informants who might have given the government information about the Davilas. "It sounds like flaky people squealing to the government for money.

"He said he knew Davila-Cummings only from Scottish dance events a decade ago in the Spokane area. He said Davila-Cummings also attended the wedding of Lyons and his wife, which was performed by Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler at the white supremacist group's former compound near Hayden, Idaho.

He also said Davila-Cummings would be an unlikely spy."Deborah is a nice girl, but she doesn't have the brains to be a spy,"

Lyons said.Rafael Davila was arrested at his parents' home in Ontario, Ore., authorities said. His former wife was arrested at her home in College Place.

Here's a more detailed story:

Espionage case linked to Aryans
Man, ex-wife charged with keeping secret military papers

Bill Morlin
Staff writer

An espionage case with links to the Aryan Nations involves secret military documents outlining deployment of U.S. troops during a domestic crisis, sources say.

The nature of the documents is of interest because some racist and anti-government groups have advocated the overthrow of the U.S. government.

Rafael Davila, a former intelligence officer for the Washington Army National Guard, and his ex-wife, Deborah Davila, were arrested by the FBI on Tuesday.

Rafael Davila, 51, is charged in U.S. District Court in Spokane with illegally keeping secret documents related to national defense.

Deborah Davila, 46, is accused of attempting to pass the documents. A federal source identified the intended recipient as activist attorney Kirk Lyons of Battle Mountain, N.C.

Lyons, who has represented well-known racist leaders, is named in the indictment but not charged. His alleged involvement with the Davilas isn't explained in the court records.

He said he knew Deborah Davila and that she had attended his wedding at the former Aryan Nations compound in North Idaho. But he said he wasn't involved in any espionage.

"It's ludicrous," he said. "I just can't figure this out."

The secret documents detailed plans for U.S. military deployments to meet various domestic contingencies, according to sources familiar with the case.

Col. Rick Patterson, a spokesman for the Washington Army National Guard, said Rafael Davila was an "S2" military intelligence officer assigned to the 96th Troop Command in Tacoma.

The brigade-size command regularly operates in conjunction with regular U.S. Army units.

Davila joined the Army Guard in 1990 and was promoted to major in 1996, a year before he attended a U.S. Army military intelligence school in Arizona, Patterson said.

Davila was discharged from the military in January 1999.

The alleged attempt to pass the secrets occurred between Aug. 1 and 15 of that year, the indictment says.

"I'm relatively certain he would have held a top-secret clearance" and undergone an FBI background check, Patterson said of Davila.

The Davilas are scheduled to appear at a detention hearing today in U.S. District Court. Federal prosecutors are expected to argue that they should remain in jail without bond until trial.

In addition to allegedly attempting to pass the documents, Deborah Davila also is accused of telling the FBI in April 2000 that she didn't know Lyons and had never met him.

"She has met me, and she knows my name because she was at my wedding," said Lyons, who currently heads an organization known as the Southern Legal Resource Center based in Lexington, N.C.

He knew Deborah Davila as Deborah Cummings.

Lyons said his wife, Brenna, met Deborah Cummings in 1990 at weekly meetings of the Spokane Scottish Country Dance Society.

His wife's mother is Betty Tate, a former aide to Aryan Nation's leader Richard Butler.

Lyons and Brenna Tate were married Sept. 1, 1990, by Butler at the former Aryan Nations compound.

Lyons said he also saw Deborah Cummings in October 1991 at a gathering in Stone Mountain, Ga. Accompanying Cummings at the event was Dave Hollaway of Houston, who was involved with an earlier legal organization, Lyons said.

Betty Tate had arranged an introduction between Hollaway and Cummings, Lyons said.

Lyons said he learned a month ago from Hollaway that he had been contacted by FBI agents.

"The FBI told him that some Aryan Nations undercover snitch had said Deborah was passing secrets through the Aryan Nations to me," Lyons said. "We both had a big belly laugh out of that one. A big belly laugh."

Lyons declined to provide Hollaway's telephone number, and he couldn't be located for comment.

Chris Phelps, a Spokane attorney retained to represent Deborah Davila, did not return telephone calls on Wednesday. Rafael Davila has asked that a federal defender represent him.

Rafael Davila was arrested in Ontario, Ore., while Deborah Davila was taken into custody in College Place, Wash.

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