June 17, 2009 9:34 AM
- Text
Cuba Spy Suspects Seek Release
(CBS/ AP)
A husband and wife charged with three decades of spying for Cuba want a judge to let them out of jail and confine them at home, without access to their sailboat and maps of Cuban waters that prosecutors said were evidence they planned to flee to the island nation.
Lawyers for retired State Department official Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn, 71, filed a motion for release from jail before their hearing Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.
The attorneys said the couple would pay for electronic monitoring and Gwendolyn Myers' son, Brad Trebilcock, would ensure someone was with them 24 hours a day.
Prosecutors said the Myerses talked to an undercover FBI agent about how they would like to sail "home" to Cuba one day and live on their boat near the island, since no travel documents would be needed. They said the Myerses were experienced sailors and the last entry on a calendar found at the couple's home showed they planned to go sailing in the Caribbean in November, with no return date.
They have been in a Washington jail since their arrest on June 4.
Authorities say the Myerses delivered government secrets to Cuban agents over the past 30 years using a shortwave radio, by swapping carts at a grocery store and in at least one face-to-face meeting with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Cuba.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola agreed with prosecutors last week that the Myerses should stay in jail because they were a flight risk.
In addition to the sail boat, prosecutors also said the Myers' have "family means," including an inheritance, more than a half-million dollars in investments, and a family "compound" in Nova Scotia. With less than 3 miles between the Myers' residence and the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, prosecutors also said the couple could just walk in the door and be out of reach forever, reports CBS News producer Stephanie Lambidakis .
Facciola's ruling, which Walton could overturn, also said there appeared to be insurmountable evidence that they spied for Cuba, and the communist government would have powerful motivation to help them escape prosecution.
In their filing, the Myerses' attorneys cited the case of Asher Karni, an Israeli accused in 2004 of secretly sending electrical devices to Pakistan that could trigger nuclear weapons. Karni was allowed to stay on home detention with electronic monitoring despite substantial evidence against him and a risk of flight, the attorneys said.
"Just as the court did in Karni, this court can fashion a combination of conditions that would reasonably assure Mr. and Mrs. Myers' appearance at trial," their attorneys wrote.
Karni pleaded guilty to helping ship devices that could be used to test, develop and detonate nuclear weapons and was sentenced to three years in prison.
The Myerses' attorneys proposed that their clients only be allowed to leave home for meetings related to the case and that they post as bond their Northwest Washington apartment, their boat and $250,000 to discourage flight.
Prosecutors filed a motion asking Walton to establish procedures for handling classified information that would be involved in the case.
Lawyers for retired State Department official Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn, 71, filed a motion for release from jail before their hearing Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.
The attorneys said the couple would pay for electronic monitoring and Gwendolyn Myers' son, Brad Trebilcock, would ensure someone was with them 24 hours a day.
Prosecutors said the Myerses talked to an undercover FBI agent about how they would like to sail "home" to Cuba one day and live on their boat near the island, since no travel documents would be needed. They said the Myerses were experienced sailors and the last entry on a calendar found at the couple's home showed they planned to go sailing in the Caribbean in November, with no return date.
They have been in a Washington jail since their arrest on June 4.
Authorities say the Myerses delivered government secrets to Cuban agents over the past 30 years using a shortwave radio, by swapping carts at a grocery store and in at least one face-to-face meeting with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Cuba.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola agreed with prosecutors last week that the Myerses should stay in jail because they were a flight risk.
In addition to the sail boat, prosecutors also said the Myers' have "family means," including an inheritance, more than a half-million dollars in investments, and a family "compound" in Nova Scotia. With less than 3 miles between the Myers' residence and the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, prosecutors also said the couple could just walk in the door and be out of reach forever, reports CBS News producer Stephanie Lambidakis .
Facciola's ruling, which Walton could overturn, also said there appeared to be insurmountable evidence that they spied for Cuba, and the communist government would have powerful motivation to help them escape prosecution.
In their filing, the Myerses' attorneys cited the case of Asher Karni, an Israeli accused in 2004 of secretly sending electrical devices to Pakistan that could trigger nuclear weapons. Karni was allowed to stay on home detention with electronic monitoring despite substantial evidence against him and a risk of flight, the attorneys said.
"Just as the court did in Karni, this court can fashion a combination of conditions that would reasonably assure Mr. and Mrs. Myers' appearance at trial," their attorneys wrote.
Karni pleaded guilty to helping ship devices that could be used to test, develop and detonate nuclear weapons and was sentenced to three years in prison.
The Myerses' attorneys proposed that their clients only be allowed to leave home for meetings related to the case and that they post as bond their Northwest Washington apartment, their boat and $250,000 to discourage flight.
Prosecutors filed a motion asking Walton to establish procedures for handling classified information that would be involved in the case.
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