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Timeline: High-profile U.S. spy cases of the last two decadesWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The arrest of retired Air Force Sgt. Brian Regan this week marks the latest in a series of alleged spy cases in the United States. In the last two decades alone, a slew of U.S. citizens, military personnel and government workers have been accused -- and, in several cases, convicted -- of personally inflicting serious harm on national security and intelligence by working as spies for other countries. Among the alleged and convicted spies -- including the dates of their arrests and the details of their cases:
2001: Robert Hanssen As part of a plea agreement reached in July, Hanssen pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy. U.S. officials also expelled four senior Russian diplomats linked to the case in March, one month after Hanssen's arrest.
2000: George Trofimoff The German-born Trofimoff had served as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army in Germany during much of his 35-year career in military intelligence. Trofimoff was also accused of conspiring to sell U.S. military secrets to the KGB -- the Soviet spy agency -- for more than 20 years beginning in 1969, and prosecutors said the Soviets awarded him the Order of the Red Banner for his service.
2000: Mariano Faget Faget was found guilty of revealing classified information to a friend with ties to Cuba. As part of an FBI sting operation, Faget was fed phony classified information about a Cuban official who was about to defect. He was warned that the information was secret, but no secret material actually was divulged.
1999: Wen Ho Lee A 59-count federal indictment alleged that Lee failed to safeguard classified information adequately by downloading top-secret data into a non-secure computer, although it stopped short of espionage charges. After nine months in jail awaiting trial, Lee was freed after an FBI agent testified he had been given false testimony. A federal judge sharply criticized the government's handling of the case, as did civil liberties organizations, which accused authorities of targeting Lee because of his Asian heritage.
1999: Jean-Philippe Wispelaere Wispelaere pleaded not guilty in a Virginia federal court, but he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.
1998: David Boone: According to the FBI, Boone was under financial difficulties and volunteered his services to the Soviets by walking into the Soviet Embassy in Washington in October 1988. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy in February 1999 and was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison.
1998: Douglas F. Groat
1997: Squillacote, Stand and Clark A CIA agent implicated Squillacote in 1997 for having and revealing top-secret military documents. By 1998, all three individuals had been convicted and were serving jail terms between 12 and 21 years.
1996: Harold Nicholson Nicholson pleaded guilty to attempted espionage and conspiracy to commit espionage in 1997, and is currently serving a 23-year prison term.
1996: Edwin Earl Pitts Pitts, who supposedly received $224,000 from the Russians for his services, pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 1997 and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
1996: Robert Kim Originally indicted on three espionage charges, Kim pleaded guilty to a reduced conspiracy charge, letting the government avoid a trial that threatened to reveal highly sensitive secrets. Kim was sentenced to nine years in jail in July 1997.
1994: Aldrich Ames Working with his wife, Ames revealed more than 100 covert operations, betrayed at least 30 agents and played a role in the execution of 10 U.S. operatives by the Soviets -- all for more than $2.7 million. He was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
1985: Robert Pelton Pelton was convicted in 1986 on two counts of espionage and one count of conspiracy and was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences.
1985: Jonathan Jay Pollard Since his conviction in 1986, Israel has lobbied U.S. administrations to pardon Pollard. President Clinton considered doing so in 1998, only to pull back after CIA Director George Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was pardoned.
1985: Walker family In late 1985, Walker pleaded guilty to espionage charges and was sentenced to two life terms plus 10 years. His son, Michael, got 25 years; his brother, Arthur James, life in prison; and a Navy colleague, Jerry Whitworth, 365 years.
1985: Edward Lee Howard Howard allegedly sold secrets to the Soviets after being forced to resign from the CIA in June 1983 because of drinking and other problems. He fled before he could be arrested, and the Soviet Union granted him political asylum.
1985: Larry Wu-tai Chin A federal court convicted Chin on 17 espionage and tax charges. But before he could be sentenced, Chin killed himself in his jail cell by placing a plastic bag over his head.
1984: Richard William Miller After a mistrial in 1984 and a conviction was overturned in 1989, Miller was convicted in a third trial and sentenced to 20 years in 1991. He was released three years later, however, after a federal judge reduced his sentence. -- U.S. Defense Security Services material was used in this report. |
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