The Region - News from Jan. 7, 1987

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the espionage conviction of Thomas Patrick Cavanagh, 40, a former Northrop Corp. aerospace engineer who was sentenced in 1985 to life in prison for attempting to sell secrets about the U.S. “stealth” bomber program to the Soviet Union. In the opinion written by Judge Anthony Kennedy of Sacramento, the court upheld the legality of FBI electronic surveillance that led to Cavanagh’s arrest in Los Angeles. FBI officials said Cavanagh was caught after telephoning the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco and attempting to contact the Soviet Embassy in Washington, but the officials have never confirmed that the FBI monitors both facilities electronically. The appeals court decision did not specify the Soviet Consulate, but it said the surveillance was directed at a facility “owned, leased or exclusively used by a foreign power.”