Trial May Hear Tape of Defector and Spy Suspect

Prosecutors in the espionage trial of Ronald W. Pelton are trying to use a recorded 1980 telephone conversation between him and Vitaly Yurchenko, a one-time KGB defector, according to federal documents released Friday.

The U.S. attorney’s office provided documents filed in federal court late Thursday saying that when Pelton was interviewed by FBI agents before his arrest last Nov. 24, the agents played the Yurchenko tape recording for him.

Pelton at first denied that the voice on the tape was his or that he had made any Soviet contacts, but he later admitted selling damaging U.S. secrets for $35,000, the documents said.

Yurchenko was a career KGB officer who defected to the United States last year, only to return to the Soviet Union in November. Prosecutors have acknowledged that Yurchenko provided the initial tip that led to Pelton’s arrest.

Filed for Bankruptcy

Pelton, 44, was a communications specialist for the National Security Agency until 1979. A few months later, he filed for bankruptcy, and he is accused of spending 3 1/2 hours in the Soviet Embassy in January, 1980, to offer the sale of secrets he learned during his 14-year NSA career.

The phone conversation with Yurchenko also occurred in January, 1980.

The documents say it was bugged by federal agents with the permission of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The documents do not disclose what Yurchenko and Pelton said or why the bug was placed. Assistant U.S. Atty. John G. Douglass would not elaborate.

Pelton has pleaded not guilty to espionage and his trial will start March 24 unless it is delayed because of many pretrial motions.