Spy Pollard seeks easing of parole conditions

Jonathan Pollard (above left) served 30 years in prison for stealing hundreds of secret and top-secret documents and selling them to Israel. He was paroled in November but is still considered a security threat - so he wears a tracking device.

But as Pollard's attorney Eliot Lauer argued for an easing of some restrictions on Friday, US District Judge Katherine Forrest cautioned that her authority was limited.

"The information [Pollard stole] is ridiculously stale, and it's the type of information that no human being could reasonably recall," Lauer told Forrest, referring to the 30-year-old documents.

He said Pollard was being denied a job at an investment firm because of the computer monitoring.

The 61-year-old Pollard is required to wear an electronic tracking device and has to submit his work computer to monitoring.

Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Sol Tinio told Forrest the restrictions were imposed by the US Parole Commission on the grounds that Pollard could still reveal secrets - a claim rejected by his lawyer.

In 1986, Pollard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage in connection with his handling off hundreds of classified documents obtained as a US Naval intelligence specialist.

Israel paid him thousands of dollars in return. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1987. He was paroled last November after serving 30 years, which included his pre-conviction time served.

Flight risk

But Tinio pointed to a letter from James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, stating that documents compromised by Pollard remain classified at the levels of "top secret" and "secret."

"They do pose a current harm to national security if they are disclosed further," Tinio said.

She added that the commission rightly concluded Pollard was a flight risk given his frequently expressed desire to move to Israel, where his wife lives. Pollard received Israeli citizenship while in prison and Israel has long pushed for his release.

As part of his parole, Pollard is required to remain in the United States for five years. He now lives in New York.

Pollard first challenged his parole conditions in December. Forrest then ordered the Parole Commission to justify the tracking device and computer monitoring. The commission provided additional reasoning in March, and the terms of Pollard's parole were upheld.

Forrest said Friday she planned to issue a ruling by the middle of August.

bik/cmk (AP, Reuters)