Newspaper Article

Plea Deals Arranged in 2 Spy Cases; Ex-FBI Agent Admits Guilt; Former Officer With CIA to Do Same

Hall, Charles W

1997

Overview

Earl Edwin Pitts, the former FBI counterintelligence agent accused of spying for Moscow, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Alexandria, and former CIA case officer Harold James Nicholson has agreed to plead guilty to espionage charges Monday, federal officials announced yesterday. Barely a half-hour before Pitts's hearing was scheduled to start yesterday afternoon, Nicholson, 46, signed an agreement saying he would plead guilty to selling secrets to the Russians from 1994 until his arrest in November, U.S. Attorney Helen F. Fahey said. Both Fahey and Nicholson's attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, declined to discuss the substance of the agreement, saying the case remains under a gag order. Pitts's plea and Nicholson's agreement are tremendous breaks for U.S. intelligence officials, who still do not know exactly what the two men may have given away. As part of the agreement, Pitts, 43, pledged to tell federal officials exactly what he turned over to the Soviets when he was spying actively for them from 1987 to 1992.

• Publisher: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post
• Subject: Earl Edwin Pitts / Espionage / Harold J. Nicholson / LAW ENFORCEMENT / Nicholson, Harold J / Pitts, Earl Edwin / Plea bargaining