Arthur Walker dies in prison
Convicted spy, Arthur Walker, part of the Walker Spy Ring that was convicted of spying for the old Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, served out the first of his three life sentences this last weekend, according to the PilotOnline;
Walker had been involved in a spy ring that had operated for nearly two decades, beginning in Hampton Roads and later in San Diego, and aboard submarines and aircraft carriers, including the Nimitz and Enterprise.
He was a retired Navy lieutenant commander living in Virginia Beach when he was arrested.
Also part of the case: his brother John, who was considered the leader of the espionage empire; John’s only son, Michael; and a Navy friend, Jerry Whitworth.
The information they sold made it possible for the Soviets to decipher more than 1 million classified messages between U.S. Navy ships and shore commands, according to the FBI.
From the New York Times when he was convicted in August 1985;
The Government charged Arthur Walker with stealing two sets of classified documents from VSE, a defense contractor in Chesapeake, Va., where he worked as an engineer, and giving them to his brother in exchange for two $6,000 payments.
One of the documents was a four-year history of repairs made to a five-ship class of amphibious ships. The other was a set of plans for ”damage control” aboard what Navy experts said where the service’s two most sophisticated communications ships.
Both documents were rated confidential, the lowest of three levels in the military’s classification scheme.
The prosecution today portrayed Arthur Walker as a greedy spy who had betrayed his country for ”happy-hour money” and a new hairpiece, a gas grill and a set of brakes for his automobile.
Only two more life sentences to go, Art. Oh, yeah, he was only a month away from his parole hearing. Thanks to Bobo for the link.
Category: Shitbags
AMF.
Burn in Hell, you traitorous bastard! Dante consigned traitors to the lowest circle of Hell, where they certainly belong.
Beat me to the exact same comment, Major.
Good riddance.
I’m eagerly awaiting the same news about “American” traitor Jonathan Pollard….
You mean I can sell out my country for a new hairpiece? That’s mighty tempting.
Don’t let don shipley know about that. even the most stalwart loyalties can be tempted if the price is right…
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US Navy was aghast at how badly we had been betrayed by the Walkers and others. Not only ship details, and tactical planning, but also much of our high-level cryptographic code had been broken, revealing ship movements, and, worst of all, deployment details for our attack subs and boomers.
Had we gone to war with the Soviets, it might well have been a much more closely run affair than we’d like to imagine. We had the worlds best ASW technology and operators, but when your enemy knows your battle plan ahead of time, that edge is rapidly eroded.
Had I been in charge, the Walkers, and all the others, would have been sweated to gain every last scrap of intel, then publicly hanged. Their greed could have cost us thousands of lives had we gone to war.
AW1 Tim: the prosecution made a deal with the Walkers: a life sentence and leniency for Walker’s son in exchange for testimony and full disclosure regarding what the spy ring had given the Soviets. Absent that deal, the US government would likely never have found out what the ring had given the Soviets.
This is one of the few circumstances under which I can support such a deal. We absolutely needed to know what Walker and his cohorts had given away.
The only unfortunate aspect of that deal is that it preceded the change in law making a Federal life sentence actually mean life. While Arthur didn’t ever see the light of day as a free man – deservedly so, IMO – there’s a chance John will. While he’s sick as hell, he is scheduled for release next May. He might make it.
I don’t think Whitworth will, though. He got 365 years.
And all for a little bit of money.
They can all rot, for all I care.
Good fucking riddance, you traitor son of bitch!
I can’t believe that the word “parole” even came up regarding any of these turds. I know there was a plea deal, but that doesn’t mean another deal couldn’t have been made to reduce somebody else’s sentence in exchange for the judicious application of a shiv or two. Besides, there are surely people somewhere on the fed payroll who could take these fuckers into a nice dark room somewhere outside of screaming distance and make them sing like a bird. Traitors deserve no less.
In any case, I read somewhere that the Walkers were involved with the USS Scorpion getting ambushed and sunk by the Russians. Is there any truth to that, or is it tinfoil hat bullshit?
Other Whitey: my understanding is that under prior Federal law (e.g., that in effect when the Walker spy ring was busted), parole at 30 years was essentially automatic for a life sentence. While that’s since been changed, the Constitution’s prohibition of ex post facto laws means that the Walker crew qualify under those rules. Arthur didn’t make his 30; John might. I don’t like it either, but it’s the law.
I’m also not exactly willing to sanction interrogation Soviet- or North Korean-style for prisoners, even convicted spies. Or extrajudicial executions outside wartime, for that matter.
Regarding the USS Scorpion: I’ve heard those rumors as well. Best I can tell – and I’ve had zero access to any classified info about the USS Scorpion’s loss – that remains unproven either way.
However, the link to the USS Pueblo seems much stronger. At least one former CIA historian has gone on record as saying he believes the USS Pueblo was captured due to the Walker spy ring. So there’s that to consider.
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=34188
Tragedy all around when one sells their soul for money.
I have learned to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery.
Aeschylus
Satan has a flaming pineapple waiting for you, you sonofabitch.
Same as what awaits the rest of them.
A flaming pineapple is too good for him. I hope he gets sadistically sodomized sideways starting with a frozen porcupine dipped in hot sauce followed by a rusty, tangled pile of concertina wire!
Good.
John Walker, I hope you die a painful, diseased, and lingering death in prison…
OK, let’s cut a deal. Arthur gets parole at his hearing and the rest rot in jail through their life sentences. I think that’s fair.