Judge Reduces Spying Sentence of FBI Agent

The only FBI agent ever convicted of spying has had his sentenced reduced, and his lawyer said he will try to get him out of prison soon.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi on Wednesday reduced the sentence of Richard Miller from 20 years in prison to 13. Miller was convicted in 1986 of trading secrets for sex in a romance with a Soviet emigre.

The order, issued in Los Angeles, said Miller should serve no more than two-thirds of his sentence, and because he has spent nine years behind bars he will soon be released, said Miller’s lawyer, Joel Levine.

Levine said his client will be released as soon as the judge’s order is processed. Miller, 57, is being held in the minimum-security federal prison in Rochester, Minn.

In hearings to reduce the sentence, Levine said that Miller was depressed in prison and that his weight had swelled to 350 pounds.

Miller had said his weight problem was part of the reason he entered into the affair with Svetlana Ogorodnikov that led to his downfall.

Ogorodnikov pleaded guilty to luring Miller into espionage and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Her husband, Nikolai, also pleaded guilty. He was released from prison on parole.

In his third trial Miller was convicted of trading a secret document for sex and promises of $65,000 in cash and gold.

The court proceedings spanned more than six years. The first trial ended with a hung jury. Miller was convicted in the second trial, but the conviction was overturned because of the admission of polygraph evidence.

Miller’s request for parole was denied because the parole board said his crimes had compromised national security.