'FEEL LIKE LITTLE KID SENT TO HIS ROOM,' MILLER SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000604910001-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 30, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604910001-4
AM IC LE LOS ANGELES TIMES flLE ONLY
ONFAG6c 36 July 1986
Ex-fW Afwt Insists He's Innocent
(By WII,I.IAMf OVEREND,
ham&aff writer
Comparing himself to a child
who does not understand why he is
being punished, former FBI Agent
Ri hard W. Miller said Tuesday
that being sentenced to two life
prison terms as a Soviet spy
"meatus nothing" to him and he
ultimately expects to be acquitted
of espionage charges in a new trial.
"I fed like a little kid who's been
sent to his room and is waiting for
his parents to say, 10K, come on
out: " Miller said. "I really haven't
grasped the gravity of it. It means
nothing except that I have to wait
12 or 14 months for another trial."
Miller, found guilty of passing a
secret FBI document to the Soviet
Union after two lengthy espionage
trials that ended with his convic-
tion June 19, maintained his inno-
cence and loyalty to the FBI during
a three-how interview at Terminal
Island federal prison.
His re?erence to a new trial was
based on his he of having his
conviction overturned by the U.S.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which
is not expected to rule on Miller's
pending appeal for at least a year.
The interview with Miller
ranged from his Lynwood boyhood
to his emotions during 22 months of
courtroom proceedings that fol-
lowed his Oct. 2, 1984, arrest; to- his
plans for possibly becoming a car-
toonist or a science fiction writer
while in prison.
Miller, an ex-communicated
Mormon, also disclosed that he is
considering studying the Jewish
religion "a little bit" while in prison
with the thought of possibly con-
verting to Judaism.
"You don't convert to anything
without checking it out," Miller
said. "I have no reason to be
disenchanted with the Mormon
faith, but religion in general has
always been fascinating to me.
"The very foundation of the
Judeo-Christian civilization is Ju-
daism," he added.
While denying that he ever
passed secret documents to the
Soviet Union or intended to hurt
the United States, Miller said he
could understand why one jury
`Feel Like Little Kid Sent
to His Room,' Miller Says
deadlocked 11 to 1 for conviction
and a second judged him to be
guilty of espionage.
"It's a pretty bizarre tale, for one
thing," he said. "If I hadn't done
this myself, I'd have trouble be-
lieving it."
Miller expressed mixed feelings
about the FBI throughout the in-
terview, saying that he regretted
hurting the FBI's image, but adding
that the bureau contributed to its
own embarrassment by prosecut-
ing him.
"The sin that every FBI agent
avoids-the cardinal sin-is don't
embarrass the bureau," Miller said.
If I'm guilty of anything, it is
mt."
Asked how he felt about com-
ments that he had permanently
tarnished the FBI's image by his
sexual involvement and alleged
Espionage intrigue with convicted
Soviet spy Svetlana Ogorodnikova,
pfiller described his sexual in-
yolvement as "asinine," but said he
eras only partly to blame for any
damage done.
I don't know if I'm willing to
'ake responsibility for all of that,"
l e said. "This case should never
have been prosecuted. I should
have been fired and that was it.
"I think it's a tragedy to the FBI
that this ever happened. The image
is forever tarnished, there's no
doubt about that."
While Miller expressed bitter-
ness about his treatment by FBI
superiors in the Los Angeles office,
the convicted spy praised the bu-
reau's overall performance.
"I think the FBI is the best
Investigative agency on the face of
the earth," Miller said. "I think
there's a few FBI supervisors who
used as poor a judgment in investi-
gating and prosecuting me as I did
when I entered this comedy of
errors."
Publicly portrayed as a bumbling
agent who had become the "office
joke" within the FBI, Miller said
that the two years after his arrest
brad been a time of constant embar-
rassment for him, but that he
learned to ignore unflattering ac-
counts of his personal life.
I "Nobody likes to be portrayed as
k bumbler, but you get desensi-
tized," Miller said. "I think in 1984,
When this all happened, I fit into
khat category. But only because I
}bdn't live up to my potential.
"I kept getting sideswiped by my
Imbility to cope with my problems
knd because I couldn't cope with
my problems I ended up being inept
and bumbling," he added.
Miller, expressing nervousness
about his first newspaper interview
since his 1984 arrest, nonetheless
smiled and laughed frequently as
he sat in his prison fatigues in a
visiting room near his 6-by-10-foot
cell at Terminal Island.
At times he showed flashes of
resentment as he talked about his
arrest and prosecution as the first
FBI agent ever charged with espio-
nage-referring to his case as "a.
dog and pony show."
But Miller gradually relaxed as
he spoke on subjects ranging from
his boyhood to his life in prison.
The only subject he refused to
discuss was his reaction last No-
vember to the news that his wife of
22 years, Paula, had decided to
divorce him.
Miller, 49, said his Lynwood
childhood was uneventful. While at
Lynwood High School, he suffered
from a rheumatic heart condition
that kept him out of sports, he said.
Miller studied Spanish for two
years in high school, but could not
remember any special high school
activities.
Went on Mormon Mission
After graduating from high
school, he went on a Mormon
mission to Latino communities in
San Antonio and other Texas cities
for over two years, attended Comp-
ton Junior College, then decided to
enroll at Brigham Young Universi-
ty, where he was recruited by the
FBI in 1963.
"I majored in Spanish and mi-
nored in English at BYU," Miller
said. "I wasn't sure what I wanted
to do. I'd thought a little about
teaching, but that was it.
"Then I heard about the FBI
recruiting," MilmVded. "They
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604910001-4
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604910001-4
came to my house and asked me if I
was interested. I didn't have any-
thing better to do, so I got in the
FBI."
Miller described his grades in
school and the early years of his
FBI career as average.
"I'm probably about the most
average person you'd ever run
into-except my weight isn't aver-
age," he said.
Miller's weight became a prob-
lem for him halfway through his
20-year FBI career, when he was
first disciplined for failure to com-
ply with FBI weight guidelines. At
the time of his arrest, he had been
suspended twice and had been
threatened with possible dismissal
for failing to control his weight.
The 5-foot, 10-inch agent began
his FBI career weighing about 180
pounds. Near the time of his arrest
he weighed as much as 252 pounds,
far over the FBI's standard of 193
pounds for an agent of Miller's
height.
Discussing his weight problems
Tuesday, Miller said he has no idea
what he currently weighs.
"It's somewhere between 200
and 250 pounds," he said.. "I eat
high salt, high starch, high fat. But
I'm on a 1,200-calorie diet now."
As jvliller discussed his weight
problem, he suddenly brightened
and changed the conversation from
talk of dieting to pizza.
"A few weeks ago there was this
giant article on pizzas in the L.A.
Times," he said. "I cut it out and
sent it to Paula."
Throughout the interview, Miller
switched his mood and tone. At
times he also gave conflicting an-
swers to the same question. At one
point he said he thought the FBI
was going to fire him in 1984
because of his weight. A moment
later, he said he thought he would
not be fired.
Faced with transfer in the near
future to another federal prison,
Miller expressed fears for his own
safety, saying that he hopes he will
not be sent to a prison where prison
gangs might be able to attack him.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I was
gone by the end of the week,"
Miller said. "I'm very apprehen-
sive. They tell me they break up
half the prison fights, but it only
takes one and you're history."
Miller, the father of eight, took a
more optimistic tone, however,
when asked about his concern for
.his children's future.
"They're doing fine," he said.
"They're able to take it. They know
I'm innocent."
Miller was reluctant to answer
questions about his sexual relation-
ship with Ogorodnikova, saying',
that he was offended during his two;
trials by the constant references to
his sex life.
He referred to her as a "charm-
ing lady," although he noted that
most of the time he was around her
she was "totally drunk."
In his view, he said, Ogorodniko-
va supported his story during her
testimony at Miller's second trial.
He said he regretted decisions by
U.S. District Judge David V. Ken-
yon that "prevented" jurors from
hearing testimony that would have
.helped establish her credibility
with jurors.
Calling himself a former Reagan
Republican, Miller said the court-
room events that followed his ar-
rest have left him with-conflicting
views about justice in the United
States.
"I've changed a lot," he said. "To
hate the judicial process is to go+
through it.
"I love my country, but the
injustice is enormous," Miller add=
ed. "It's a game in the courtroom
now. That's how the judicial system',
seems to view it. Who's the win
ner? That's all they care about."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000604910001-4