Death Penalty Pursued For Alleged Would-Be Spy

Aug. 9 -- A federal judge on Thursday rejected attempts by defense lawyers to prevent the government from seeking the death penalty for accused spy Brian Regan.

Regan, a retired Air Force sergeant, is charged with trying to sell military satellite secrets to Iraq, Libya and China. He is a former intelligence analyst who worked at the National Reconnaissance Office, which runs the nation's spy satellites.

The government says Regan took 800 pages of classified information and may have buried even more. He allegedly offered secret data to Iraq and Libya for $13 million. He was arrested a year ago as he tried to board a flight to Switzerland.

First Time Death Penalty Pursued Since Rosenbergs

In April, federal prosecutors filed court documents declaring their intention to seek the death penalty. It is the first time in decades that the government has sought the death penalty in an espionage case. No U.S. citizen has been executed for spying since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the 1950s.

Regan's attorneys say the death penalty would be cruel and unusual punishment — particularly since he is charged with "attempted" espionage.

"Is it constitutional for a man to be killed for an attempted crime? Is it appropriate?" defense lawyer Jonathan Shapiro asked in court. U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled that it is constitutional.

The defense claims politics are involved, noting that Aldrich Ames and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen did not face death penalties despite being convicted of damaging intelligence leaks that cost the lives of foreign agents.

"This is not a death penalty case," declared Shapiro. "It's politics, it's [Attorney General] John Ashcroft."

Federal prosecutors insist there is just cause for the death penalty. Regan, they say, betrayed his country. They say the information he allegedly tried to sell to Iraq could have put U.S. and allied pilots patrolling the no-fly zone at "grave risk of death." Regan himself allegedly wrote to Saddam Hussein: "If I am caught, I will be imprisoned for the rest of my life, if not executed for this deed."