Californian Seized as 4th Spy Suspect : Ex-Navy Radio Man Had Access to Sensitive Data

The FBI arrested a retired Navy communications specialist Monday, charging that he is a fourth member of a spy ring that authorities fear has supplied the Soviet Union with U.S. Navy secrets for 20 years.

Jerry Alfred Whitworth, 45, of Davis, Calif., turned himself in and was ordered held without bail by U.S. Magistrate Frederick J. Woelflen.

Whitworth--who retired from the Navy as a chief petty officer in October, 1983, after 23 years of service--is charged with conspiracy to pass secret information to the Soviet Union between 1965 and 1983, an FBI affidavit filed here says. Previously filed FBI affidavits had alleged that John A. Walker Jr., the apparent leader of the spy ring, began his espionage activities in 1968.

‘Critical Player’

“In his position as a radio operator, he (Whitworth) had access to some of the most sensitive radio data we have,” U.S. Atty. Joe Russoniello said Monday. “You would have to consider him a very critical player.”

Like Walker, his longtime friend, Whitworth was an instructor of communications at the Navy Communications School in San Diego, serving there from 1970 to 1973.

Later, he was assigned to communications posts at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. He had also served aboard the carriers Enterprise, Constellation and Niagara Falls. At the time of his retirement, he worked at the Alameda Naval Air Station in San Francisco Bay, where his duties included being custodian of classified materials and put him in charge of communications security. Now unemployed, he apparently had pursued careers as a stockbroker and computer salesman since leaving the Navy.

Walkers Arrested

Walker, 47, a retired chief warrant officer, allegedly began spying in 1968 while he was a communications specialist in the Navy. He retired in 1976 and opened a private detective agency in Norfolk, Va. Walker, his son Michael Lance Walker, 22, and his brother, Arthur J. Walker, 50, all have been arrested and charged with espionage. The son was a Navy enlisted man serving aboard the carrier Nimitz at the time of his arrest last month and the brother is a retired Navy lieutenant commander who worked for a defense contractor in the Norfolk area.

The affidavit released by the FBI here said that Walker also had attempted to recruit his daughter, Laura Walker Snyder, into the spy ring. She was a communications specialist in the Army in 1978 and 1979.

Karen Alexander, an FBI agent based in Sacramento said that “there are other people involved . . . yet to be taken into custody,” although she declined to elaborate.

According to the affidavit, one of the letters seized from Whitworth’s home and written by him says that he was “running the message center” at Alameda. The letter also said that he became “chief in charge of Tech Control--the heart of naval communications.”

Denies Spying

Whitworth’s lawyer, Louis Hiken of Davis, said Whitworth is a longtime friend of Walker. But the lawyer said that Whitworth denies that he was involved in spying.

A lanky, balding man with a full beard and glasses, Whitworth did not speak during his brief appearance before the magistrate. He was dressed in blue jeans and a light brown suede jacket. He had turned himself in about 2:45 p.m., under an agreement reached earlier in the day between Hiken and Assistant U.S. Atty. William Farmer.

The affidavit said that in one note, Walker referred to a contact by the letter “F.” There was no indication who that was. Investigators have said Walker’s references to the letter “S” was his son, Michael, the letter “K” was his brother, Arthur, and the letter “D” was Whitworth.

The FBI seized one recent letter from Walker, addressed to “Dear Friend,” in which Walker purportedly wrote: “D continues to be a puzzle. He is not happy but is still not ready to continue our cooperation.

“Rather than try to analyze him for you, I have simply enclosed portions of two letters I’ve received. My guess is he is going to flop in the stockbroker field and can probably make a modest living in computer sales.

“He has become accustomed to the big spender life style and I don’t believe he will adjust to living off his wife’s income, he will attempt to renew cooperation within two years.”

References to Letters

The affidavit contains references to letters, apparently written by Whitworth to Walker, in which the author talks of plans to become a stockbroker and to enter computer sales. The writer says that “there have been many reflections on my decision to retire and subsequent decisions.

“When it gets to the bottom line though, I believe that once Brenda (Whitworth’s wife is named Brenda) and I are into our new careers that I’ll be happy with my strategy and that it will succeed.”

Anonymous Messages

The affidavit says that in 1984, anonymous letters that authorities believe Whitworth wrote and sent to the FBI here said that the writer was considering turning himself in. One letter was received on May 11, 1984, and signed by “Rus, Somewhere, USA.”

The letter said that in exchange for immunity from prosecution, the author would help to break up what the author referred to as an espionage ring that passed “cryptographic keylists for military communications” to Soviet agents.

Another letter sent last May said that the spy operation had been going for more than 20 years and would continue “indefinitely.” But while that letter also mentioned possible cooperation, a final letter dated Aug. 13, 1984, said that “Rus” had concluded “that it would be best to give up on the idea of aiding in the termination of the espionage ring.”

No further letters were received.

‘Best Friend in Navy’

In Norfolk, Va., Monday, John Walker’s girlfriend, Pamela Carroll, a policewoman there, told her attorney that Walker had referred to “Jerry” as his “best friend in the Navy,” the lawyer said.

James McKenry, the lawyer, said Carroll’s “understanding” was that Jerry was involved in “some sort of pinball business.”

Another associate of Walker, Edward H. Ulrich, earlier said that Walker had told him in 1979 of drawing profits from “an arcade” in San Francisco, and that he spoke of making one or two trips a year there to pick up his money.

McKenry said Carroll also had been told by Walker that he visited “Jerry” in California two or three times a year.

Arthur Walker told agents, according to the affidavit released here, that Whitworth “was making big bucks by photographing classified documents in his van and then supplying them to Walker.”

Lived in Trailer Park

Whitworth and his wife had lived for the last two years in a small trailer park on the outskirts of Davis. Neighbors, however, said they hardly knew the couple.

“This is a quiet neighborhood,” said Inez Rodriguez, whose trailer home is three doors away from the Whitworths. “They kept a very low profile.”

But Jack Peach, who manages the trailer park, said he and other residents became interested in the couple about 10 days ago when a number of neatly dressed--but not overly friendly--men began watching the Whitworth trailer.

Interest was further sparked late last week, he said, when a dozen of the men entered the Whitworth trailer-home, searched it thoroughly, and seized various materials that they removed in cardboard boxes.

“They were FBI agents,” Peach said. “I talked to one of them, and he said Whitworth and his attorney knew that he (Whitworth) was being watched.”

Request for Counsel

Meanwhile, in Norfolk, Arthur James Walker appeared before U.S. Magistrate Gilbert Swink Jr. Monday and asked for court-appointed counsel.

Walker said his assets are a $90,000 home on which he owes $27,000 and two cars worth $2,100. Swink said Walker normally would not be eligible for court-appointed counsel “but in these circumstances the fees will be rather high . . . “ He ordered Walker to pay $200 a month until the lawyers’ fees are paid.

Later, the two court-appointed lawyers, Sam Meekins and J. Bryan Donnelly, asked that Walker’s preliminary hearing, scheduled for Monday, be postponed until they could confer at length with their client. “We are very much in the dark as to the circumstances of the case,” Meekins said. Swink then rescheduled the preliminary hearing for June 12.

Staff writers Ronald J. Ostrow and Robert L. Jackson in Washington, Gaylord Shaw in Norfolk, Va., and Richard C. Paddock in Davis, Calif., contributed to this article.