U.S. to Seek Delay in Walker Sentencing

Justice Department lawyers decided Wednesday to ask a federal judge to delay sentencing confessed Navy spy John A. Walker Jr. to give investigators more time to determine whether he is lying about the espionage ring he headed and what Navy secrets it sold to the Soviets.

In acknowledging that the department would ask that the already-postponed sentencing of Oct. 3 be delayed further, a spokesman said the additional time is needed “to get our work done properly.”

Under a plea-bargain agreement, Walker drew a conditional life sentence and his son, Michael, a 25-year term. The sentences would make the senior Walker eligible for parole in 10 years and his former sailor son could be paroled in just over eight years. Navy investigators, however, have urged that the agreement be thrown out on grounds that John Walker has failed to fulfill his promise of truthful cooperation.

Polygraph Results Cited

Justice Department officials initially refused to move for withdrawing the agreement, contending that Walker’s allegedly deceptive answers in polygraph examinations fall short of the evidence a court would need to take such action. Polygraph results are not admissible as evidence in federal courts.

Instead, Naval Investigative Service and FBI agents were directed to interview other principals in the case and take other investigative steps to determine the truth or falsity of John Walker’s statements.

That information could be crucial to fully assessing what submarine warfare, codes and other highly sensitive secrets the spy ring provided and to determine whether others were involved beyond the four convicted men, government sources said.

‘Most Important’ to KGB

Officials have said that the Soviet KGB ranked the Walker ring as “the most important operation” in its history and that the Soviets were able to decipher about 1 million secret U.S. Navy messages on the basis of information gained through the ring.

As part of the renewed investigation, Walker’s brother, Arthur, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who was given a life sentence for his role in the ring, is being brought to Baltimore this week to be questioned about statements his brother made, defense attorneys confirmed.

It was understood that Jerry A. Whitworth, a fourth member of the ring and a close friend of John Walker, also is being questioned. John Walker testified against Whitworth, a former Navy communications specialist, and Whitworth drew the stiffest term of all: 365 years in prison, making him eligible for parole if he lives to 107.

Among the discrepancies that investigators are most eager to resolve are whether Arthur Walker played a more important role in the ring than evidence so far has indicated, and whether he took part while he was still in the Navy--which would signal that the Soviets could have gained more anti-submarine warfare secrets than originally believed.

Focus on Brother’s Role

John Walker reportedly is suspected of attempting to deceive authorities on the question of whether his brother initiated the spying operation. The picture of Arthur Walker that emerged from trials and other evidence had him joining the ring at his younger brother’s invitation.

It was also learned that investigators are still dissatisfied with John Walker’s explanation of the initial “A” that appears in his writings about the operation. Walker, in communicating with the Soviets, referred to other members by initials, but the identity of “A” was not established.

John Walker is understood to maintain that “A” represented a Norfolk, Va., sailor he approached about providing information but who turned him down. Investigators have interviewed the sailor and concluded that he had rejected Walker’s approach, but the polygraph results have raised the question again.