Judge Bars U.S. From Deporting 2 Soviet Spies
A Los Angeles federal judge Monday barred government efforts to deport two convicted Soviet spys, clearing the way for them to testify in the upcoming retrial of Richard Miller, the only FBI agent ever charged with espionage.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi ruled that Miller has a right to call Svetlana Ogorodnikova and her husband, Nikolai, as witnesses in his third trial in April, 1990. The Ogorodnikovas pleaded guilty to espionage conspiracy in 1984; she was sentenced to 18 years in prison and her husband received an eight-year term. Prosecutors had arranged to have the Ogorodnikovas deported after their release from prison.
Miller was convicted in June, 1986, of passing secrets to Svetlana Ogorodnikova during their love affair in 1984. His conviction was reversed last April by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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