Father, Navy Son Charged With Stealing Secrets

A former Navy warrant officer and his young sailor son were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges that they sought to harm the nation’s interests by stealing military maps, sketches and other secret documents to pass to the Soviet Union.

A six-count indictment returned in Baltimore federal court and announced by the Justice Department charged that John A. Walker Jr., 47, and his son, Michael Lance Walker, 22, began conspiring to steal secrets about April, 1983, in return for compensation from the Soviets.

Although the total payments received or expected by the father-son team were not specified in the charges, the younger Walker received at least one payment of $1,000 in March, 1984, “in return for classified documents he had taken from the Oceana Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, Va.,” according to the grand jury.

Russian Leaves Country

Their Soviet contact was identified in the indictment as Aleksey Gavrilovich Tkachenko, vice consul of the Soviet Embassy’s consulate section, which deals mainly with visas and cultural exchanges. It was understood that Tkachenko left the United States a day after the elder Walker was arrested by the FBI last week at a motel in suburban Rockville, Md., where agents had trailed him to an apparent “drop site.”

At the site, the FBI found a shopping bag filled with 129 secret Navy documents.

The nine-page indictment against the Walkers did not charge them with passing specific documents to the Soviets, and authorities still are trying to estimate how much damage to national security the pair caused.

Rather, the two men were charged repeatedly with stealing secrets “with intent to” deliver them to the Soviets for pay. The grand jury added that there were “other co-conspirators” who have not yet been named.

Not a Large Spy Ring

Government officials, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said Tuesday that the purported spy ring was not a large one. It may have included one or two more Americans in addition to the Walkers--including perhaps one more relative--who are yet to be arrested, the officials said.

At least three of the charges in the indictment carry a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The indictment noted that the senior Walker had ended a 21-year Navy career by retiring in August, 1976. During that period, the indictment said, he had held a top-secret clearance for special codes and extensive work in military communications.

Although authorities have said that he may have been spying for as long as 18 years, the indictment only charges him and his son with two years of offenses. However, additional charges could be filed if more evidence becomes available, officials said.

Tkachenko apparently was called back to Moscow shortly after FBI agents stated in court that a Soviet national had been spotted in the vicinity of the rural area where Walker allegedly left the shopping bag of documents. The embassy declined comment Tuesday night.

Ex-Wife Contacted FBI

John Walker’s alleged espionage activities were first called to the attention of the FBI several months ago by his former wife, Barbara Joy Crowley Walker, according to federal investigators. The Walkers divorced in 1976, the year he retired from the Navy.

Meanwhile, a high school guidance counselor, Chester Buck of Hyannis, Mass., said Tuesday that he first contacted the FBI on behalf of Barbara Walker four or five months ago. Buck, who is Cynthia Walker’s landlord, told the Cape Cod Times of Hyannis that he arranged for Barbara Walker to meet with the FBI.

“She didn’t reveal anything to me, and I didn’t ask her,” Buck told the newspaper. “She just said she had something she wanted to talk to the FBI about.”