Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by n1 on Tuesday November 24 2015, @03:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the forgive-and-forget dept.

Just days after the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, Ronald W. Pelton is set to be released. In 1986, Pelton was convicted for selling classified information from his work at the National Security Agency to the Soviet Union. According to Secrecy News:

Tomorrow Ronald W. Pelton, a National Security Agency communications specialist who was convicted in 1986 of spying for the Soviet Union, will be released from prison.

Like Jonathan J. Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel and released last week, Pelton was apprehended in 1985, which became known as the Year of the Spy because so many espionage arrests and prosecutions took place during or around that time.

A search of the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator indicates that Pelton's release, which has not been widely noted, is set for Tuesday, November 24. It further identifies Pelton as a 74 year old white male (Register Number 22914-037).

The Pelton case had several distinctive features.

Unlike most spies of the time, he did not steal U.S. government documents and turn them over to a foreign government. Instead, he was able to sell the Soviets information based on his "excellent memory and [...] encyclopedic knowledge of intelligence activities." Among the U.S. intelligence projects he compromised was IVY BELLS, an effort to secretly tap Soviet undersea communications cables.

Operation Ivy Bells tapped Soviet submarine cables during the Cold War.


Original Submission

Related Stories

U.S. Releases Convicted Spy Jonathan Pollard 22 comments

Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to violations of the Espionage Act in 1987 and became the only American to ever receive a life sentence for passing classified information to a U.S. ally, Israel. He was released on Friday:

After spending 30 years in prison for spying on the U.S. for Israel, Jonathan Pollard was released Friday. His attorney confirmed Friday morning that Pollard has been released, shortly after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement welcomed his release.

"As someone who raised Jonathan's case for years with successive American presidents, I had long hoped this day would come," Netanyahu said. "After three long and difficult decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family."

The New York Times adds that Pollard is currently not allowed to leave the country:

Jonathan J. Pollard, the American convicted of spying on behalf of Israel, walked out of prison early on Friday after 30 years, the Israeli prime minister said, but the Obama administration had no plans to let him leave the country and move to Israel as he requested.

[...] The one-paragraph missive did not mention Mr. Pollard's desire to immediately move to Israel, which would require a waiver of federal parole rules. Israel Today, a newspaper based in Jerusalem that often reflects the views of Mr. Netanyahu, reported on Thursday that the prime minister had personally appealed to President Obama during their meeting this month to lift the standard prohibition on parolees leaving the United States but received no response. American officials confirmed that.

[...] Two Democratic lawmakers wrote to the Justice Department last week urging Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch to grant the request, saying that Mr. Pollard would be willing to renounce his American citizenship and never return to the United States. They noted that a spy for Cuba was allowed to renounce his American citizenship and live in Cuba in 2013 after serving his sentence.

But the White House repeated on Friday that it would not intervene in the matter. "The president has no plans to alter the forms of his parole," Benjamin J. Rhodes, Mr. Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Air Force One en route to Malaysia, where the president was traveling. He referred questions to the Justice Department.


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @03:50PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @03:50PM (#267545)

    e4. The first move in a game of chess, to be played in Moscow.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @03:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @03:56PM (#267548)

    The reason these guys are getting released is because until 1987 the US had mandatory parole eligibility for people convicted of life sentences after 30 years if the prisoner had good behavior and was unlikely to re-offend.

    In theory the government could oppose paroling these guys, but these guys don't have much life in them anyway so it's not like it would be much of a deterrent.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday November 24 2015, @05:21PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Tuesday November 24 2015, @05:21PM (#267597)

      Also, it's not like these known enemy spies are evil and dangerous, unlike the dozens of completely innocent people still locked up in Gitmo who must remain there at all costs according to those same authorities.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday November 24 2015, @06:19PM

    by isostatic (365) on Tuesday November 24 2015, @06:19PM (#267626) Journal

    Tapping cables isn't new, but it's not old either.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/world/europe/russian-presence-near-undersea-cables-concerns-us.html [nytimes.com]

    WASHINGTON — Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34896956 [bbc.co.uk]

    An RAF plane is "conducting activity" off the Scottish coast, the Ministry of Defence says, amid reports of a Russian submarine being spotted in the area.
    ....
    There have been previous concerns [from the NYT - amazing how spin can get out there and stay in the media psyche] that Russia could be developing plans to have submarines sever key internet communications during future wars, following a spike in its naval activity near the locations of undersea cables.

    And hilariously while David Cameron wants to maintain the illusion the UK is a "big boy", spending £1E9 on renewing (US provided) nuclear missiles while getting rid of frontline police staff that can actually respond to today's threats

    The RAF currently has no maritime patrol aircraft of its own.

    Personally I suspect that Russia is simply tapping the cables, just like America does. Which is fine, as everyone uses encryption everywhere, right?

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @07:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 24 2015, @07:55PM (#267658)

      spending £1E9

      The costs for refreshing Trident are expected to be roughly 20 times that: £13.6 to £17.4 billion for 4 submarines, £2.5 to £3.7 billion for the warheads, and £2.5 to £3.7 billion for infrastructure, making a total of £18.6 to £24.8 billion for the programme as a whole (source [parliament.uk]).

      getting rid of frontline police staff that can actually respond to today's threats

      We can be sure it's not anarchy yet, if Assange is still in the Ecuadorian embassy.

      Plans to buy new spying planes were announced last week [theguardian.com].

      • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday November 24 2015, @08:17PM

        by isostatic (365) on Tuesday November 24 2015, @08:17PM (#267671) Journal

        Well there will always be police to protect government interests