THE LAWRENCE LUNT CASE: CALL TO YOU FROM MR. WAINWRIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-60-1-22-9
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: January 4, 2011
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: January 23, 1975
• Content Type: MEMO

MEMORANDUP
SUBJECT: The Lawrence Lunt case: Call to
THRU: GENERAL SCOWCROF
FROM: STEPHEN LOW1
January 23, 1975
MEMORANDUM FOR: DONALD RUMSFELD
you from Mr. Wainwright
ON-FILE NSC
RELEASE
INSTRUCTIONS
APPLY
At the request of your office I responded to Mr. John T. Wainwright's
call to you. Wainwright's concern was related to the matter of
Lawrence Lunt, who is an American imprisoned in Cuba. Wainwright
said that he had discussed this matter with you in the past and that he
believed you would have to deal with it later on, and he requested
that I inform you of our conversation.
did so anyway, together with his Belgian wife, and lived for some
time on her family's ranch there. He may have engaged in black
market activities while there, but in any case, he was eventually
imprisoned, tried and convicted of espionage by Cuban authorities.
He has served ten years of a thirty-year sentence. His family in this
country has brought considerable pressure on the government, both
directly and through members of Congress, to obtain his release, and
their lawyer, Wainwright, has been extremely active both within the
executive and the Congress on Lunt's behalf. At one point in the past
the Cubans had agreed to exchange Lunt for a Cuban prisoner in
Portugal but later reneged on that offer after the change in
government in Portugal.
Virginia. Lebron was a member of the Puerto Rican group which
25X1
Within the last week the Cuban government has informed us through the
Belgian government that it would agree to release Lunt if Lolita Lebron
were released from the federal penitentiary in Alderson, West
o Objection to Declassification in Part 2011/01/04: LOC-HAK-60-1-22-9
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2011/01/04: LOC-HAK-60-1-22-9
the House in 1954. She was captured, convicted and sentenced to
16 to 50 years' imprisonment. Two years ago she became eligible
for parole, but refused to apply unless the other Puerto Ricans
arrested with her also were released and she was granted amnesty.
W
attacked and wounded a number of U. S. Congressmen on the floor of
ultimately pass through your office.
recommend accession to the demand but is aware that the matter is
under study. His proposal is that the President commute Lebron's
sentence, which is not a pardon and would not require a request
from her. For this reason Wainwright believes the matter must
involved in the case. He knows that Justice is not inclined to
Wainwright has been in touch with everyone in State and Justice
Whether through Wainwright or others, the matter has now appeared
in the press in most of its detail.
I pointed out to Wainwright that action by the USG to commute a
sentence in response to a demand of this kind would inevitably carry
implications for our policy on terrorism. He noted that a precedent.
existed from the time when a Cuban member of Fidel Castro's
delegation to the U. N. in New York was released by us after
conviction for a shooting. I pointed out that this involved a Cuban
member of a foreign delegation, not an American as in the Lebron
case, but I noted that the matter was under careful study and we were
fully aware of his concerns.
The matter is under consideration by State and Justice, and we are
following it closely. Initially, at least, we are not inclined to
recommend acceptance of the Cuban proposal.
cc: Philip W. Buchen
CONFIDENTIAL
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2011/01/04: LOC-HAK-60-1-22-9