Washington: A US judge has sentenced a
former State Department worker who is the great grandson of
Alexander Graham Bell to life in prison without possibility of
parole for spying for Cuba and sentenced the man's wife to
more than 5 years behind bars for helping her husband steal
US secrets.
US District Judge Reggie Walton said Kendall and
Gwendolyn Myers betrayed the United States and should receive
heavy punishment for having done so.
In a 10-minute explanation to the judge of his
conduct, Kendall Myers said his goal was to pass along
information about US policies toward Cuba, a nation that he
said feared the United States because of its opposition to the
Cuban regime.
Kendall Myers, 73, said he stole secrets with no
intent to harm the United States.
The judge said he was "perplexed" at how Myers
could have the notion that he was not hurting the US, given
the level of antagonism between the two countries.
"The Cuban people feel threatened" and "they have
good reason to feel threatened" by the US, Myers replied.
Prosecutors said Myers, a descendant of Bell, the
inventor of the first practical telephone, was a child of
wealth and privilege and could have been anything he wanted to
be, but instead chose to spy for Cuba for 30 years from inside
the State Department.
His wife, Gwendolyn, 72, was sentenced to 81 months
in prison, with time off for the 14 months she has already
served. That works out to a sentence of just over 5 and 1/2
years for her.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, July 17, 2010, 00:08