Countywide : Court-Martial Delayed in East German Spy Case

The court-martial of Michael A. Peri, the Orange County soldier charged with supplying the East German government with secret information about U.S. troop movements in Germany, has been postponed to allow attorneys additional time to prepare for the military trial.

No new date was set to begin the court-martial, originally scheduled to be held Monday, according to Lt. Col. Jake Dye, spokesman for the 5th Army Corps in Fulda, West Germany. Dye said the postponement “was mutually agreed upon” by prosecutors and Peri’s defense attorneys.

Peri, 21, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted of espionage, illegally entering East Germany, possessing classified documents and theft of military property. Peri, who was stationed at the 11th Calvary headquarters in Fulda, allegedly took a military vehicle and a laptop computer without authorization and crossed into East Germany in February.

The vehicle was found abandoned a mile from the border, near the West German village of Obersuhl. Peri, who was trained to analyze electronic warfare signals such as radar, surrendered 12 days later to military authorities in Fulda.

Peri, a graduate of La Quinta High School in Westminster, whose parents live in Laguna Niguel, is being held in the Army Confinement Center in Mannheim, West Germany.