Man, wife plead guilty to spying for Cuba

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A former U.S. State Department official and his wife pleaded guilty to a 30-year conspiracy to give classified data to Cuba, the Justice Department said.

Walter Kendall Myers, 72, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington to a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit espionage and two counts of wire fraud, the Justice Department said Friday in a news release. His wife, Gwendolyn Myers, 71, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information.

Kendall Myers agreed to serve a life prison sentence and cooperate fully with U.S. officials regarding any criminal activity and intelligence activity by him or others, the department said. Gwendolyn Myers agreed to serve a sentence of between six and 7 1/2 years in prison and cooperate with the United States.

The defendants also agreed to pay $1.7 million, which will be satisfied in part by forfeiture of their Washington apartment, a 37-foot yacht, a vehicle and several bank and investment accounts.

"For the past 30 years, this couple betrayed America's trust by covertly providing classified national defense information to the Cuban government," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security. "Today, they are being held accountable for their actions."

Kendall and Gwendolyn Myers were arrested June 4 and indicted the next day, accused of conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the Cuban government. They were also charged with acting as illegal agents of the Cuban government and with wire fraud.

In its complaint, the federal government said Kendall Myers used his top-secret clearance as a U.S. State Department analyst to steal the information and Gwendolyn Myers helped pass along the information to Cuban handlers. Their arrests followed an FBI undercover operation in which a federal agent posed as a Cuban intelligence operative.