Regan Guilty of Trying to Spy for Iraq, China

A hapless and heavily indebted former intelligence analyst who sought to offer “vital secrets” to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was convicted Thursday of trying to spy for Iraq and China.

But the jury failed to agree whether Brian P. Regan, 40, was guilty of seeking to sell military secrets to Iraq.

A conviction on that count could result in a death sentence for Regan, who was arrested at Dulles International Airport near Washington in August 2001 with the addresses of the Iraqi and Chinese embassies in Switzerland tucked in his right shoe.

After the partial verdict, which included acquittal on a charge of attempted espionage on behalf of Libya, the judge told jurors to continue deliberating on the remaining count.

Regan worked as an intelligence support analyst at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va., which operates the nation’s spy satellites.

His case has raised eyebrows because federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., are asking for the death penalty even though the former Air Force sergeant did not actually sell any secrets.

No one has been executed for espionage in the United States since 1953, when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg died in the electric chair for conspiring to pass atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.

In recent years, two turncoats whose treachery led to the deaths of agents abroad -- the CIA’s Aldrich H. Ames and the FBI’s Robert P. Hanssen -- were sentenced to life in prison.

Although Regan was arrested three weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks and long before the U.S. was considering an attack on Iraq, his case was prosecuted in a time of high tension.

U.S. attorneys told the jury that Regan’s actions created a “grave risk of death” for American pilots who patrol the “no-fly” zones over Iraq. They said Regan tried to sell Hussein information on military satellites and communications systems that could have put these pilots at risk.

Defense lawyers portrayed their client as a bungler who was merely “playing spy.”

He had $117,000 in credit card debts when he drafted a letter to Hussein. In it, he complained about the size of his government pension, noting bitterly that movie stars and athletes receive “tens of millions of dollars a year for their trivial contributions.”

He sought to assure Hussein that his contribution would be anything but trivial.

“I am willing to commit espionage against the United States by providing your country with highly classified information,” Regan wrote. “Thirteen million dollars is a small price to pay to have someone within the heart of the U.S. intelligence agency providing you with vital secrets.”

This missive was found on his home computer, and prosecutors could not show that it had been sent.

Agents had observed him for several weeks doing research at public libraries. They arrested him before he could board a flight to Zurich.

If the jury cannot agree on the more serious charge, the judge will sentence him based on his conviction for attempted espionage.