Spy Suspect Says He Was Misled by FBI

Accused spy Ronald Pelton testified today that he would not have cooperated with FBI agents if he had known that the information he gave during nearly seven hours of interrogation would “be used to hang me.”

“If they had told me point-blank I could have had an attorney. . . . That’s really what I wanted. I’d have been silent,” the former National Security Agency technician said in U.S. District Court.

Pelton, 44, took the stand to defend himself against charges that he sold U.S. intelligence secrets to the Soviets for $35,000 over a five-year period.

If convicted on the five counts, he faces a maximum penalty of life plus 10 years in prison. A sixth charge was dismissed by Judge Herbert F. Murray today on the ground that an alleged transfer of information took place outside the Maryland jurisdiction of the court.

Says He Asked for Lawyer

The trial is expected to go to the jury Wednesday.

During questioning by Public Defender Fred Bennett, Pelton said he told FBI agents that he wanted a lawyer present for his conversation with them in a hotel suite in Annapolis last November.

He said the agents told him that they were involved in counterintelligence and were not interested in finding out what information allegedly was given the Soviets but rather in how the sensitive documents were transmitted.

“They said if I did not cooperate, they couldn’t prevent an investigation from happening. They said a team of agents was poised if I didn’t cooperate,” he said.