Spy Says Ex-Lawyer Used Funds for Drug Debt

Denying that she paid a Santa Monica lawyer to locate a high-ranking KGB defector reportedly marked for death by the Soviet Union, convicted spy Svetlana Ogorodnikova claimed Wednesday that the attorney, Donald Levinson, actually needed the money to pay off a drug debt to “the Israeli and Hungarian Mafia.”

The bizarre allegation, branded as “ridiculous” by Levinson, was made as Ogorodnikova defended herself against prosecution charges that she is slanting her story in the espionage retrial of former FBI Agent Richard W. Miller to protect relatives in the Soviet Union and possibly win new trials for herself and her husband.

Received Pills

In addition to labeling her ex-lawyer a drug abuser, Ogorodnikova maintained that both her 14-year-old son and her mother are safe in the Soviet Union, that she has no idea if her testimony will result in a possible new trial and claimed that she was under the influence of “pills” during her own trial last year.

Explaining why she pleaded guilty to espionage conspiracy, Ogorodnikova repeated earlier statements that she did not believe she could receive a fair trial from a U.S. jury and then added:

“In Sybil Brand (Institute for Women), I was in very hard condition. Everybody was pointing to me. They were giving me pills to calm down. Even when I was coming to court, they gave me those pills. I was about to go crazy.”

Levinson, the son of the owner of a Vernon meatpacking plant that employed Ogorodnikova’s husband, Nikolai, has testified that he was paid to help locate Stanislav Levchenko, a KGB major, who defected to the United States in 1979.

Disavowed Plea

He said the Ogorodnikovs approached him about locating Levchenko in early 1984, saying only that they were trying to find the former KGB officer for a woman who wanted to sue him for paternity. The attorney said he accepted a few hundred dollars in cash but dropped his efforts after becoming suspicious when the Ogorodnikovs refused to identify the woman.

Ogorodnikova, sentenced to 18 years in prison last June after pleading guilty to espionage conspiracy in the Miller case, suddenly disavowed her guilty plea and proclaimed Miller’s innocence, when forced to testify as a defense witness under a grant of immunity in Miller’s second trial.

Since taking the witness stand April 22, the emotional Soviet emigre--frequently breaking into tears--has consistently denied any links, by either herself or her husband, to KGB activities in the United States, claiming that she thought she was working for the FBI and helping Miller.

Her charge that Levinson was a debt-ridden drug user came when Joel Levine, one of Miller’s defense lawyers, raised the alleged search for Levchenko by asking her if she had ever given the Santa Monica lawyer any money.

“I was always lending him money,” Ogorodnikova said. “He used to come all the time. He didn’t even have one dollar. If I’m not wrong, I gave him $500 in cash and $250 in two different checks.

Asked for Money

“He asked for that money. He was using drugs,” she added. “He had to give that money to somebody. If he doesn’t give that money, then he’s in trouble. The Israeli and Hungarian Mafia was into this.”

Levinson, denying Ogorodnikova’s allegations, said: “I don’t think it deserves any comment. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

In addition to his questions about Levinson, Levine asked Ogorodnikova why she had authorized her lawyers to tell U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon in private--but not in public--last June 26, that she had received FBI documents from Miller.

Ogorodnikova, who emphasized her concern for her family at the time of her guilty plea, gave more importance Wednesday to her dislike of the media coverage of her trial.

‘Was Ashamed’

“I was ashamed. I didn’t want everything to go into the newspaper--all my private life,” she said. “Sure, I was worried about my family. But nobody would really touch them.”

“Are you testifying because you are afraid of anything?” Levine persisted.

“Nothing will happen to my family,” Ogorodnikova replied. “It’s just shame and shame and mostly they are writing about me only sex and sex and sex.”

Miller, 49, met Ogorodnikova in May, 1984, and began a sexual relationship with her almost immediately. Much of the case has revolved around her claims of an earlier sexual relationship with FBI counterintelligence agent John Hunt, 54, who has retired. Hunt has testified that he rejected all of her sexual advances.

Ogorodnikova also disputed prosecution claims that she might be tailoring her testimony to be part of some future spy swap with the Soviet Union, saying the KGB was aware that she was really trying to help the FBI.

“I would be shot,” she said. “What do you think? Russians are fools? They know the truth.”