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Pasco high teacher, ex charged in espionage
Tri-City Herald ^ | 2/3/03 | AP and Herald Staff

Posted on 02/06/2003 12:34:38 PM PST by Spunky

Pasco high teacher, ex charged in espionage

This story was published Thursday, February 6th, 2003

By The Associated Press and the Herald staff

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.

The two were scheduled to make court appearances today in Spokane.

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.

The indictment does not say what connection, if any, Lyons has with the case.

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.

They face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges. "


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: espionage; spy; teacher
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I checked and did not see this posted. If it already is, sorry.

My Grandson goes to this school. You just don't know who might be teaching your children.

1 posted on 02/06/2003 12:34:39 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Libertina; CyberCowboy777
Could one of you use your ping list for this?

Thanks, Spunky

2 posted on 02/06/2003 12:38:38 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Spunky
They face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges. "

They oughta get the firing squad... or the noose, if convicted

3 posted on 02/06/2003 12:40:10 PM PST by Johnny Gage (God Bless our Military, God Bless President George W. Bush and God Bless America!)
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To: Spunky
What on earth? - Espionage? - Selling stuff to Aryan Nations? (The Aryan nation is not really another country, LOL!) How strange! Keep us posted on this case, if you ever hear the rest of the story!
4 posted on 02/06/2003 12:41:10 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Spunky
The Aryan Nations are spying on the US? I guess they do think they've seceeded!
5 posted on 02/06/2003 12:41:38 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: HairOfTheDog
Selling stuff to Aryan Nations?

Not sure who they were going to be sold to, but they tried to deliver the documents to the attorney Kirk Lyons, of North Carolina, who had a connection to the Aryan Nations.

I am trying to figure out how they would have got top secret documents. It said the husband was a former National Guard.

I wonder if he currently works out at Hanford and got some secrets from there.

After the (Supposed) false alarm at the Nuclear Plant last night. Hummmmm!

6 posted on 02/06/2003 12:50:11 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Spunky
Hummmmmmmm indeed!
7 posted on 02/06/2003 12:50:51 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
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To: Spunky
Deborah Davila-Cummings, 46, and Rafael Davila, 51, were arrested Tuesday and were being held without bail. Authorities have not said where.

Shouldn't his name be the last in her hyphenated set (Cummings-Davila)?
8 posted on 02/06/2003 12:52:42 PM PST by Xenalyte
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To: Xenalyte
Shouldn't his name be the last in her hyphenated set (Cummings-Davila)?

I am not sure if Davila is Hispanic, but if it is I think it is customary for the womens name be last. I know when they have children the mothers maiden name is last.

Either that or she is a real lib like Hillary and kept her name.

9 posted on 02/06/2003 12:58:58 PM PST by Spunky
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To: HairOfTheDog
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.

 

10 posted on 02/06/2003 12:59:33 PM PST by Catspaw
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To: Spunky
If you get any updates on this, I'd appreciate a ping. Something just doesn't seem right here.

I guess the word "espionage" could be used in this case, but I think it's stretching the meaning to make it look worse than it is. That is scary to me, because it could very well be applied in an abusive manner to other domestic problems at the whim of some alphabet soup boy.

"ESPIONAGE: The practice of spying or using spies to obtain information about the plans and activities especially of a foreign government or a competing company"

11 posted on 02/06/2003 1:00:07 PM PST by JudyB1938
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To: cherry
Pinging you to this thread.

If you have a ping list, would you use it?

Thanks, Spunky

12 posted on 02/06/2003 1:06:09 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Spunky
Okay, here's my question...if the lawyer (read lier) said he barely knew Davila-Cummings, how could he say she'd be an unlikely spy since she wasn't "smart enough"?
13 posted on 02/06/2003 1:07:38 PM PST by IYAS9YAS
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To: JudyB1938
From the story:

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

14 posted on 02/06/2003 1:08:12 PM PST by Catspaw
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To: IYAS9YAS
whoops lier=liar
15 posted on 02/06/2003 1:09:06 PM PST by IYAS9YAS
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To: Spunky
I will post the link to our Locale page.
16 posted on 02/06/2003 1:10:43 PM PST by Libertina
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To: Catspaw
Thanks for posting the article. I was trying to figure out what kind of secret documents they might have had.

I was thinking something with the Nuclear Plant here, then since he was in the National Guard, I wondered if it could have anything to do with the chemical depot nearby.

17 posted on 02/06/2003 1:12:34 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Spunky
FBI Arrests 2 People on Espionage Charges
18 posted on 02/06/2003 1:14:24 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: Libertina
Thanks
19 posted on 02/06/2003 1:15:27 PM PST by Spunky
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To: Spunky
I read this in the Belligham Herald this morning. I don't know how reliable the evidence is against these people. They are definitely nut cases but I am not sure that this isn't a case of unfounded accusations brought on by their neo-nazi connections. I can't imagine who they would have leaked the information to, Hitler? Maybe just to other militia people, but I would like to wait and hear the whole story.

20 posted on 02/06/2003 1:23:54 PM PST by Eva
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