Returned GI Ordered Held in Navy Brig for Security Reasons
A military magistrate ruled today that an Army soldier who defected to the Soviet Union should be detained at the Philadelphia Naval Yard brig for security reasons.
In a 15-minute hearing here, magistrate Capt. Brenda Pifer said Pvt. Wade E. Roberts poses a risk of escape and could have knowledge about sensitive information.
Roberts, 22, of Riverside, Calif., has been in Army custody since his arrest Nov. 4 in Europe. He was moved to Philadelphia on Sunday.
He has been charged with desertion and faces two years of hard labor if convicted.
Army officials are interviewing Roberts to make sure that he did not discuss military secrets while he was in the Soviet Union.
He deserted at Giessen, West Germany, in April. He fled to the Soviet Embassy in East Germany with his girlfriend, then left for the Soviet Union.
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