Sgt. Lonetree Convicted of Espionage : Could Get Life Term for Slipping Secrets in Embassy Scandal

Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree was convicted of espionage and 12 other charges Friday for slipping secrets to the KGB while guarding the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Vienna and could be sentenced to life in prison.

Lonetree is the first Marine court-martialed for espionage, and the only Marine to face espionage charges in the so-called sex-for-secrets scandal.

An eight-member court-martial jury reached its verdict after deliberating for four hours, ruling that Lonetree spied on the United States while he was a Marine guard at the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Vienna.

Lonetree did not speak as he was led out of the courtroom to be returned to the Quantico brig.

‘He was Shaking’

“I put my arm around him” when the verdict was read by jury president Lt. Col. James Allen, said his defense lawyer, William Kunstler. “He was shaking, but he was like a Marine. He took it well.”

Lonetree’s mother, Sally Tsostie, told reporters, “I taught my son to be an honest man. He was being honest when he turned himself in. He’s not a traitor.”

The presiding judge, Navy Capt. Philip Roberts, ordered the jury to return Monday morning to begin deliberations on a sentence. Two of the 13 counts on which Lonetree was convicted, espionage and conspiracy to commit espionage, carry possible life sentences.

Defense attorney Michael Stuhff, irate at the rulings of the court, said earlier in the day that he would appeal any conviction to the Navy Court of Military Review.

‘He Is a Disgrace’

“This judge has given us for appeal so many issues, that this conviction cannot stand,” Stuhff said.

“This judge violated his oath of office,” Kunstler told reporters later. “He is a disgrace.”

Stuhff said Roberts’ rulings limited his ability to cross examine prosecution witnesses and barred him from calling some of his own. The defense took the unusual step of refusing to call any witnesses to testify on Lonetree’s behalf.

Three other Marines still face lesser charges stemming from the investigation that began with Lonetree’s arrest.

Closing Arguments

Kunstler called Lonetree “essentially the scapegoat for everybody. . . . He stands relatively alone here in what started out as the great sex spy scandal.”

Prosecutor Maj. David Beck, in closing arguments earlier Friday, asked, “Could anyone really believe that this accused did not know he was helping the U.S.S.R.?”

“The defense would have you believe he’s an innocent Walter Mitty type. He’s a real-life Benedict Arnold,” Beck said.

But Kunstler, in his closing arguments in the four-week military trial, said Lonetree “didn’t believe that what he was doing was wrong” and he did not spy for the Sovets.

‘Profoundly Stupid’

Lonetree played a “foolish, dangerous game to try to outwit the KGB,” he told jurors. “It was profoundly stupid.”

After Kunstler wrapped up his presentation, Roberts delivered instructions to the jury of eight Marine Corps officers, who began their deliberations at 2:12 p.m. PDT.

Lonetree was charged with 13 criminal counts: one of espionage, three of conspiracy to commit espionage, four of failure to obey regulations and five of disclosing identities of U.S. agents.

Military law requires two-thirds of a jury to vote for conviction. In Lonetree’s case, six of the eight Marine jurors must side with prosecutors for conviction. The jury also determines the sentence if a conviction is returned.

Called a Traitor

Wrapping up the prosecution case, Beck said Lonetree is a traitor who caused grave national security damage. “While Sgt. Clayton Lonetree was in uniform, he betrayed his country,” Beck declared.

Beck emphasized a confession signed by Lonetree, which the defense contends was coerced.

Defense attorneys contended that Lonetree was duped by his Soviet lover, Violetta, who introduced him to the KGB. They also claimed that when he realized he was dealing with a KGB agent known as Sasha, he tried to be a double agent.

But Beck said, “To become a double agent, one must first have been a spy.”

Contigent Recalled

Lonetree is the only Marine charged with spying in the “sex-for-secrets” scandal earlier this year that led to the recall of the entire 28-member contingent of Marine guards from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Beck reviewed testimony from more than 30 witnesses and reiterated the prosecution argument that Lonetree betrayed national security to avenge government treatment of American Indians. Lonetree is an Indian.

“Money, intrigue, sex, ego, ideology--all of these were involved,” Beck said. “Lonetree violated his oath. (He) sold out our national defense . . .r to a country which has declared our country as public enemy No. 1.”

Beck also highlighted Lonetree’s sworn confession, obtained Dec. 28 and 29 in a London hotel room by agents of the Naval Investigating Service. Lonetree admitted to giving the KGB agent Sasha a floor plan to the classified seventh floor of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, photographs of U.S. intelligence agents, the location of the U.S. ambassador’s office and the home telephone numbers and addresses of embassy workers.

“The information the accused gave away to the Soviets concerning covert agents is clearly, clearly related to national defense,” Beck said.