Judge Waits 10 Mins., Finds First Walker Guilty as Spy : Gave Navy Secrets to His Brother

Arthur J. Walker, variously described as a “sap” and someone “who put a knife in the back of the United States,” was convicted in 10 minutes today on seven counts of helping his brother pass military secrets to the Soviet Union.

U.S. District Judge J. Calvitt Clarke, who heard the case without a jury, handed down his verdict against the retired Navy lieutenant commander minutes after the defense and prosecution finished their closing arguments.

“The court finds the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt” that Walker entered a conspiracy and passed military secrets “with the intent or belief that the information would be used to injure the United States or advantage a foreign power--in this case Russia,” Clarke said in rendering the verdict.

Walker, the first of four members of a family-and-friend spy ring to face trial, stood but showed no reaction. He faces a maximum penalty of three life terms plus 40 years and a $40,000 fine when sentenced Oct. 15.

Walker, 50, has volunteered to help the government build its case against his younger brother, John A. Walker Jr., who is being held for trial with his son, Navy seaman Michael Walker.

John A. Walker Jr. is the alleged head of a spy ring said to be the source of the most damaging leaks of classified information since nuclear secrets were passed to Moscow in the 1950s. The fourth member facing trial is Jerry A. Whitworth of Davis, Calif., an old Navy friend of John.

The defense team had been prepared for today’s verdict.

“I told him to expect the worst,” defense attorney Samuel Meekins told reporters as he walked into court earlier today.

During four days of testimony, prosecutors presented Walker’s admissions to FBI agents and a federal grand jury in Baltimore that he took classified Navy documents from his defense contractor employer, VSE Corp. of Chesapeake, in 1981 and 1982 and photographed them for his brother.

Arthur Walker said he was paid $12,000 in “happy-hour money,” with which he bought a toupee and a gas grill, among other things.

Walker’s lawyers elected not to have him testify. “I think Arthur’s said enough,” defense attorney J. Brian Donnelly told reporters.

Walker’s lawyers sought to portray their client, who retired from the Navy in 1973, as more of a “sap” than a spy, one who reluctantly turned to espionage to appease a domineering younger brother.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Seidel, in closing arguments after four days of prosecution witnesses, said Walker admitted in a confession to the FBI to “committing the ultimate crime against the people of the United States--espionage.”

“The evidence shows he took a check with one hand from his employer and put a knife in the back of the United States with the other,” Seidel said.

Clarke heard the case without a jury at the request of Walker, who feared he could not get an impartial panel in this city, home of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet and the world’s largest Navy base.