DEFENDANT IN SPY CASE TELLS WHY HE SOLD SECRETS TO SOVIET OFFICIALS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100020049-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: April 11, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/15 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100020049-8
ARTICLEAFr-~' ~R~[~ NE!J YORK TIMES
ON PAGE -~ I J 11 Apr i 1 1986
Defendant in Spy Case Tells Why He Sold Secrets
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 10 (AP) t0 SOUIet Officials
- A former Army intelligence otficer~
testified today that he sold secrets to
the Soviet Union as part of a mission to
infiltrate the Kremlin's intelligence ap~
paratus in the Far East.
The witness, Richard Craig Smith,
testifying at his espionage trial, said he
had passed information about six
United States spy operations to a Soviet
intelligence officer in Tokyo but had
done so as part of a mission for the Cen-~
tral Intelligence Agency.
"Mr. Smith," asked his lawyer,
Brent Carruth, "are you a spy?"
"I have been, yes," Mr. Smith re-
plied.
"For whom?"
"For the United States of America,"
Mr. Smith replied. "I have never been
a spy [or the Soviet Union, but Isold se-
crets to the Soviet Union as part of an-
other mission." He said this missi
had been part of a C.I.A. effort to lnfi~l-
trate the Soviet intelligence apparatus,
the K.G.B.
The defense rested its case today and
Federal District Judge Richard Wil-
i llama told the jurors closing arguments
would begin Friday.
Wormatiao Disclosed
Mr. Smith said that after he resigned
from the Army in 1980 to go into private
business he was recruited while in
Tokyo by two C.I.A. agents who called
themselves Ken White and Danny Ishi-
da. At first he performed low-level cou-
rier missions. Eventually, he said, in
mid-1982, Mr. White asked him to try to
gain access to Soviet intelligence offi-
vials at their Tokyo embassy.
Mr. Smith said Mr. White had au-
thorized him to disclose Wormation
about eight operations involving pevpl
sp for both sides with which he ha
been~amillar while still in the Army
an f18,000-a-year inteWgence officer.ii
He said he had told a K.G.B. oftldal,
Viktor Okurrev, about aiz of those in ex-,
change for 111,000. Mr. Smith said the
operations were old and had long since
beer[ stopped, so no damage was dace.
Meetlnp Are Deeerlbed
Mr. Smith said that Mr. White and
Mr. Ishida operated out of the C.I.A.
business fund in HanoiWu called CMI
Investment Corporation and that he
had several meetings with the agents,
both in Hawaii and in Tokyo.
Mr. Smith's lawyers say they have
been unable to find either man.
Recently declassified documents
confirm that CMI was a [root for the in-
telligettce agency.
Mr. Smith is charged with two cautts
of espionage, one of conspiracy and two
of passing secrets to the Soviet Union.
If convicted on any of the espionage or
conspiracy courts, he could be sen-
tenced to life imprisonment.
His lawyers have told the jury that
Mr. Smith gave the Russians nothing of
consequence while on the C.I.A. mis-
sion but that the agency was "leaving
Mr. Smith out to dry."
Mr. Smith's wife, Susan, and father
and brother all took the stand to testify
in behalf of the defendant's character.
In halting voice, Susan Smith said her
husband had reluctantly given up his
"Army intelligence job to go into private
business and spend more time with his
family. His business ventures were
close to bankruptcy when he traveled
to Tokyo and contacted the Soviet otfi-
cials, she said.
~ Fred Schwendiman, vice president of
Brigham Young University, also testi-
fied to Mr. Smith's character.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/15 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100020049-8