ENGINEER ENTERS GUILTY PLEA TO TWO COUNTS OF ESPIONAGE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201060004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: March 15, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/28: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201060004-0
NEW YORK TIMES
15 March, 1985
'Engineer Enters Guilty Plea
;To Two Counts of Espionage
defenses before deciding to make the
plea. He said he knew he could face two
life prison terms.
Judge Byrne asked exactly what he
had said to the undercover agents.
"I told them I had documents," Mr.
Cavanagh said. "I was in debt and
needed $25,000."
A defense attorney, Manuel Araujo,
said he hoped the psychiatrist's report
would mean a softer sentence for Mr.
Cavanagh. If sentenced to the maxi-
mum term, Mr. Araujo said, Mr. Cava-'
nagh could be paroled in 10 years.
An Assistant United States Attorney,
Percy Anderson, had said no prosecu-
tion request for a lighter sentence was
included in last month's plea bargain.
A condition of Mr. Cavanagh's plea
was that he be allowed to file an appeal
of an that the earlier obtained
wiretap evidence in the case. . ? could
A favorable ruling on appeal
invalidate the plea, attorneys have
said.
F.B.I. Answered Call
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
n
k
s 1 o
Caa na11 d e ear r?
leaded It to two counts o es io-
:nape. o of er., counts were is-
missed. -:,-t
x'1)o you believe those documents, if
i. given to a foreign power, would be in-
jurious to the united States or advanta-
geous to the foreign power, namely the
Soviet Union?" Judge Byrne asked.
? "It -would' not be injurious to the
tinted States," Mr. Cavanagh said,
"but it would be of assistance to the
LQS ANGELES, March 14 (AP) -
An aerospace engineer y pleaded
guilty to espionage, confessing that he
tried to pass Stealth bomber secrets to
Soviet agents for $55,000 because he
needed money.
"`W >+ hat was the sole reason the engi-
neer, Thomas Patrick Cavanagh, 40
years old, told Federal District Judge
W.:-Matthew Byrne Jr.
Judge Byrne scheduled sentencing
fof April 22 and allowed the defense to
obtain a psychiatric evaluation of Mr.
Cavanagh, who was an engineer at the
Northrop corporation, a prime mili-
tary contractor.
? uietl that he could
i
oping an aircraft designed to frustrate
radar
surfaces that t tend to reflect radar
beams. Outer surfaces of Stealth
planes would be coated with special
radar-absorbing materials.
possible Life Sentence
Mr. Cavanagh, of suburban Downey,
was accused of taking blueprints of and
documents about the bomber. Nor-
throp is a prime contractor for the
Stealth program. In a December meet-
ing with undercover agents from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr.
Cavanagh
the
was information "billions of
Stealth program gra
dollars," court documents said.
Standing in a blue prison jumpsuit,
his hands folded, Mr. Cavanagh said he
was giving his plea freely and volun-
tarily and had considered all possible
The Stealth concept involves devel-
tou
said Mr. Cavanagh had got in
with Soviet officials in San Francisco
and Washington, offering to sell docu-
ments pertaining to the Stealth bomber
program.
Federal agents intercepted the calls
and sent undercover operatives who
Mr. Cavanagh thought were Soviets to
deal with him, the bureau said. No'
documents were ever passed to the
Soviet Union.
In 45 minutes of interrogation by
Judge Byrne today, Mr. Cavanagh said
he had been handed $25,000 and prom-
ised another $30,000 in the deal by men
he believed were Soviet agents before
his arrest in December. The men were
undercover F.B.I: agents
"What did you tell them about the
documents?" Judge Byrne asked.
'`That th ey were Government
projects that were being worked on,"
Mr. Cavanagh responded.
STAT
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ARTICLE APPEPM
ON PAGE
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
15 March 1985
Engineer. admits guilt in
er-secretS, espionage
By Linda Deutsch
Aesadated Press
LOS ANGELES - An aerospace en-
gineer pleaded guilty yesterday to
espionage charges, confessing. that
he tried to pass U.S. Stealth bomber
secrets to Soviet agents-for $55,000
because he needed money.
"That was the sole reason," Thom-
as Patrick -Cavanagh, 40, told U.S.
District Judge W. Matthew Byrne Jr.
Byrne scheduled, sentencing for
April'22 and allowed the defense to
obtain a psychiatric evaluation of
Cavanagh, who was an engineer at`
the Northrop Corp., a prime defense;
Speaking so quietly he could barely
be heard, Cavanagh pleaded guilty to
two, counts of espionage. Two. other
counts were dismissed.
"Do you believe those documents,
if given to a foreign power, would be
injurious to the United States or ad-
vantageous to'. the foreign power,
namely. the Soviet Union?" Byrne
asked Cavanagh.
"It would ' not be injurious to the
United States," Cavanagh said, "but it
would be of assistance to the Soviets."
The Stealth concept involves devel-
oping an aircraft that would frus?.
trate radar detection through con-
struction that avoids the sharp-an-
gled surfaces that radar tends to pick
up. Outer surfaces of Stealth planes
also would be coated with special
radar-absorbing materials.
Standing in a blue prison jumpsuit,
his hands folded, Cavanagh said he
was giving his plea freely and volun-
tarily and after considering all possi-
ble defenses. He said he knew he
could face two life prison terms.
Defense attorney Manuel Araujo
said he hoped the psychiatrist's re-
port would mean a softer sentence
for Cavanagh. If sentenced to the
maximum term, Araujo said, Cavan-
agh could be paroled-in 10 years.
"He feels very guilty. He's glad he
was caught. He's glad nothing came
of this," Araujo said outside court. "It
wasn't the act of a rational man."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Percy An-
derson had said no prosecution rec-
ommendation for a lighter sentence
was included in last month's plea
bargain.
A condition of Cavanagh's plea was
that he be allowed to file an appeal of,
an earlier ruling by. Byrne that the
government legally obtained wiretap
evidence in' the case.favorable.
ruling on appeal could invalidate the.
plea, attorneys have said.
-The FBI said Cavanagh had con-
tacted Soviet officials in San Francis-
co and Washington offering to sell
documents pertaining to the Stealth
bomber program. Federal agents in-
tercepted the calls and. sent under-
cover FBI agents Cavanagh thought
1? were Soviets to deal. with him, the
FBI- said. No documents were ever.,
passed to the Soviet Union.
During 45 minutes of interrogation
by Byrne yesterday, Cavanagh said he
had been handed $25,000 and promised
another $30,000 in the deal by men he
believed were Soviet agents befor
his arrest in December.
"What did you tell them about the*
documents?" Byrne asked.
"That they were government proj-y
ects that were being worked on;" he,
responded..
Byrne then asked whether Cavan
agh had been working on "an' ad--
vanced system bomber project! He
said he had.
"And did you believe those docu=
ments related to the national defense''
of the United States?" Byrne asked.,
Cavanagh paused. for several sec
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