Arthur Walker Found Guilty in Spying Case : Lawyers Say He Might Testify Against Brother to Get Sentence Cut; Judge Deliberates 16 Minutes

Arthur J. Walker, a balding, bookish-looking engineer whose lawyers tried to portray him as a naive, meek bumbler unwittingly led astray by his scheming brother, was found guilty Friday of passing Navy secrets to the Soviet Union for $12,000.

The verdict, after four days of testimony about cloak-and-dagger spy operations and serious national security breaches, ended the first in a series of trials involving what the government contends was a family-and-friend espionage ring run by Walker’s brother, John A. Walker Jr., 47, a Norfolk private detective.

Court-appointed defense attorneys said that they had not decided whether to appeal and indicated that Arthur Walker, 50, a retired Navy lieutenant commander, might be willing to testify against his brother if he could obtain reduction of the maximum punishment he faces--three life terms in prison, an additional 40-year sentence and a $40,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr., who reached the verdict after Walker waived the right to a jury trial, set Oct. 15 for sentencing.

Walker, bespectacled and dressed in a bright blue-and-white checked blazer, showed little emotion as he sat hunched over the defense table while Clarke read his decision--guilty on all seven counts of an indictment that contended that Walker had stolen classified documents from the VSE Corp., the Norfolk-area defense firm for which he worked, and passed them to his brother.

Made Two Confessions

The judge deliberated for only 16 minutes before reaching his verdict.

It was Walker’s own voluntary confessions to the FBI and a federal grand jury last May that formed the basis of the government’s case against him. Walker did not take the stand, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense.

In his final argument, Samuel W. Meekins, one of Walker’s attorneys, said that the confessions only underscored the notion that Walker was a pliable man, easily swayed not only by prosecutors and investigators but also by his brother.

After noting that during the trial Walker had even waved to help a confused government witness who was having trouble recognizing him, Meekins pointed to him and asked rhetorically: “This is a spy?”

But government lawyers argued that Walker understood the gravity of what he had done. “That’s not a little rabbit running in the bushes,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Tommy E. Miller. Added Robert J. Seidel, another government prosecutor: “He was taking a paycheck from VSE with one hand and putting a knife in the back of the United States . . . with the other.”

During the trial, Meekins argued also that the government had overstated the security value of the material it said Walker had stolen. But Navy experts testified that the documents were a “bible for sabotage” that could help an enemy sink vital American communications and command ships as well as sophisticated new helicopter assault vessels.

Much of the government case dwelt on the activities of John Walker, whose May 20 arrest in suburban Washington broke open the spy scandal. The government contends that John Walker had been a Soviet spy for 19 years and said that, when he was taken into custody, he had just tried to pass a grocery bag filled with 129 secret Navy documents to his Soviet contact.

John Walker and his son Michael Lance, who also is accused in the case, are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 28 in Baltimore. Jerry A. Whitworth, a close friend of John Walker, also been linked by the government to the ring and will face separate charges in San Francisco.

In testimony, FBI agents relayed vivid spy novel-style accounts of secret maps, codes, signals and “dead drop” procedures seized from John Walker when he was arrested and from his house.

No Help From His Brother

In addition, the agents gave details of the painstaking surveillance efforts that led to Walker’s arrest and his equally elaborate efforts to avoid such tails. Indeed, so much of the trial concentrated on John Walker that Meekins complained that government lawyers were using Arthur Walker’s case as a “dress rehearsal” for the more spectacular trial of his brother.

Miller, the prosecutor, refused to comment on whether the government would seek to persuade Arthur Walker to testify against his brother. But J. Brian Donnely, another of Arthur Walker’s attorneys, said that John Walker had rejected requests to testify on his brother’s behalf and had threatened to invoke his Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination if he were subpoenaed.

When asked if Arthur Walker blamed his brother for his predicament, Donnely replied: “Strangely enough, he doesn’t . . . . He blames himself.”

Donnely said that Arthur Walker realized it was wrong to take the documents from VSE but felt the government had overreacted to what he had done. “He is sorry again for what he did, but he’s very concerned he’s going to be punished for being linked to John,” Donnely said.

Meekins contended that, in order “to make a public display” of Walker, the Justice Department rebuffed defense attempts to arrange a plea bargain before the trial.