After 30 years of spying on America for the Cuban government, a State Department official and his wife admitted their guilt in Federal Court. Walter Myers, 72, and wife Gwendolyn, 71, (ABSOLUTELY no relation!) worked out a plea deal with the US Government that will put Myers in prison for life while his wife will serve 6 to 7.5 years. The plea also calls for an extensive US debriefing of the traitors.
Walter Myers worked for the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute in 1978 when he went on a two-week trip to Cuba. Myers’ personal documents show that he believed that Fidel Castro was brilliant and that he was otherwise impressed by Cuba’s leader. He left the State Department, moving to South Dakota, where he approached by Cuban officials. The couple, when asked if they would become spies, agreed; Mr. Myers was known as 202 and his wife as 123. They returned to Washington, and the State Department, and Myers resumed his job.
The couple would receive instructions from Cuba over short-wave radio and Myers would carry out the orders. According to the Washington Post;
Over the years, Myers memorized secret documents or borrowed them from work and then gave copies to Cuban agents, authorities said. The couple also met their handlers during overseas trips. In 1995, they visited Cuba using false names and spent an evening with Castro, court papers allege.
The couple agreed to forfeit all payments from the Cuban government, which amounts to approximately 1.7 million dollars in payments. Unfortunately, this includes Mr. Myers’ prized sailboat…not that he’ll be using it any time soon.
