PROSECUTION DETAILS SPY SUSPECT'S SPENDING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520015-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: June 1, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

k
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520015-1
ON p _ NEW YORK TIMES
1 June 1986
Prosecution Details Spy Suspect's Spending
1CATT7IEllN WMI,
Sptli to The .- Toll ftr
J SAN FRANCISCO, May 30 - Jerry
A. Whitworth, on trial hero on charveges
of espionage and tax fraud, lid ex-
travagantly and spent thousands of dol-
lars on gold coins, works of art, Jew.
s-. ,J--- -.
iriettds, testified that they lent her
$4,600 in 1981. When Mr. Whitworth vis-
ited, she said, he brought and expen-
sive brandies and sherries.
"Jerry tended to prefer a decadent
lifestyle," Miss Vanderpool said. She
said that Mr. Whitworth told her in 1981
A
ing to records of banks a ndmerchants I stock198Y ket.Pneavious witnesses testi-
introduced as evidence here. fled that Mr. Whitworth and his wife re-
Mr. Whitworth, who retired from the. ported on their income tax returns that
Navy in 1993 vglth the rank of chief they had lost $16,000 in the stock mar-
petty officer, is accused of stealing ket in those two years.
sensitive Navy cryptographic data and
selling It to a Soviet spy ring over a 10- Whitworth Was `Agitated'
orrthe ~ twos weeks e for x?000.
prosecutors
1 have Presented nearly four down wit-
neases from coin dealers to commodi-
ties traders to appliance salesmen to
testify about his purchases and invest-
ments.
What has emerged is a portrait of a
couple who spent large amounts of cash
on pslntinp, itnarslons silk lingerie or
dinners for friends at fins restau .
Ihnakwe sad lllstescycles
Witnesses have detailed the financial
transactions of Mr. Whitworth and his
wife, Brenda L. Reis, beginning with
thousand of dollars In purchases of
household furnishings and two motor-
cycles in 1976, the year they were mar-
At the time he retired from the Navy,
Mr. Whitworth was earning about
$24,000 a year plus allotments. Miss
Reis has been working toward a doctor-
ate in nutrition since 1990. Defense at-
torneys have not yet presented any evi-
dence of other sources of income for
them.
Mr. Whitworth has been charged
with eight counts of espionage and five
counts of tax fraud. He has pleaded not
guilty. The couple filed joint tax re-
turns, but Miss Reis has not been
charged.
Celia Vanderpool of San Clemente,
who said she met the couple when she ,
was dating one of Mr. Whitworth's
Miss Vanderpool said that Mr. Whit-
worth called her the day after 'John A.
Walker Jr. was arrested in May 1985.
Mr. Walker has pleaded guilty to espio.
nage and testified last month that Mr.
Whitworth Passed stolen Navy data to
him and received cash payments from
him.
Mr. Whitworth was "agitated" and
"Very upset," Miss Vanderpool said,
and told her that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation had questioned him and
searched his home and might come to
,her home next because she might
"have thing." When she replied that I
she did not know what he was talking
about, she said, Mr. Whitworth told her
to "Think, Celia, think." He said he
would call her back, she added, but he
never did and then he was arrtested.
Prosecutors have presented a num-
ber of witnesses to testify on the cou-
pie's finances.
For example, a representative of the
Bank of America testified that the cou-
pie Purchased $7,000 in cashiers checks
in April, 1977 and deposited them in a
stock ceding account opened at Merrill
Lynch and Company. The indictment
charges that Mr. Whitworth received
$12,000 In the first week of April as pay-
ment from Mr. Walker.
Prosecutors have detailed $31110 in
Purchases they may is me& 1990, when the Governmeut says Mrr.
Whitworth received a payment of
$100,000. The purchases include came
cm and cm*uW r'omda Mid a vw as won as a $7,00$
deposit in a Merrill Lynch account.
rest of their evidence ~ on Mr. Whit-
worth's financial dealings Malay.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100520015-1