U.S. Couple Accused Of Spying For Cuba

Cuba Spying Indictment Alleges Retired State Department Worker And Wife Were Secret Agents For 30 Years..

by CBS/AP

Published: Fri, June 05, 2009 - 2:26 pm CST

(CBS/AP) A retired State Department worker with top secret security clearance and his wife have been indicted on charges of spying for Cuba.

The indictment handed down by the attorney general's office in Washington says Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been clandestine agents for Cuba for 30 years.

The indictment says the pair met with Cuban President Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1995, traveling through Mexico under false names. They allegedly made several other trips to Latin America and the Caribbean to meet with Cuban agents.

Kendall Myers worked at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute, where he specialized in European matters, before retiring in 2007. The indictment says in his last year of employment, Kendall Myers viewed more than 200 intelligence reports related to Cuba.

The Myers, both residents of Washington, D.C., were arrested yesterday afternoon by FBI agents, according to a Justice Department statement. They made their initial appearances today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while serving as an illegal agent of a foreign government carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, according to the statement.

"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious and should serve as a warning to any others in the U.S. government who would betray America's trust by serving as illegal agents of a foreign government," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "We remain vigilant in protecting our nation's secrets and in bringing to justice those who compromise them."

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