Lonetree, Embassy Guard Convicted of Espionage, Has Term Cut to 20 Years

A former Marine Corps embassy guard sentenced to 25 years in prison for spying for the Soviet Union had his sentence reduced Friday to 20 years.

The action will make Clayton J. Lonetree eligible for parole consideration immediately because he already has served a third of the 20 years, said Maj. Ron L. Rodgers, the government prosecutor.

“That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee,” responded Lee Calligaro, Lonetree’s lawyer. Calligaro had said an appropriate sentence would be something close to the nearly seven years Lonetree has served since his arrest in December, 1986.

Earlier Friday, Lonetree, 31, testified that his greatest sense of loss was never being allowed to wear the Marine Corps uniform again. He was the first Marine ever convicted of spying against the United States.

“There is no one in the world who abhorred my conduct more than myself,” he said at his hearing before Lt. Col. D. A. Anderson, the military judge who reduced his sentence.

Lonetree was convicted in August, 1987, of espionage and other charges related to his duties as a guard at the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Vienna. The U.S. Court of Military Appeals upheld Lonetree’s conviction last year, but set aside his sentence and ordered a new hearing.

Calligaro introduced documents Friday indicating that Lonetree’s spying caused little harm. Several officials at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., where Lonetree is serving his sentence, also testified that he is a model prisoner with excellent work habits.