Richard Miller (FBI agent)

Richard W. Miller (born 1937) was the first member of the FBI to be indicted for espionage.

On October 3, 1984, Miller was arrested with Svetlana and Nikolai Ogorodnikov, Russian immigrants who had moved to Los Angeles in 1973 to seek refuge, but who were actually access agents of the Soviet KGB. Miller was alleged to have provided classified documents, including an FBI Counterintelligence manual, to the Ogorodnikovs after demanding $50,000 in gold and $15,000 cash in return. Miller, who had eight children and was faced with financial difficulties, was having an affair with the married Svetlana Ogorodnikov, and was preparing to travel with her to Vienna at the time of his arrest. It was later alleged that Svetlana Ogorodnikov had been in touch with a KGB case officer working out of the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco and had made arrangements for Miller to meet with the KGB in Vienna.

After his arrest, a fuller portrait emerged of Miller. According to various news accounts, Miller occasionally took three-hour "lunches" at the 7-Elevens near his Los Angeles office, gorging himself on stolen candy bars while reading comic books. He was alleged to have cheated his own uncle by selling a muscle-relaxant device he'd patented, and skimmed cash from bureau coffers meant for one of his informants. Miller also ran auto-registration checks and searched FBI criminal indexes for a local private investigator at $500 per search. In early 1984, the LDS Church excommunicated Miller for adultery. He was divorced from his wife, Paula Miller (now renamed Hill), in late 1988. Following his release, he re-located to Northern Utah. He re-married Tamara Lewis (now Miller) September 23, 1995.

After a 10-week trial, and in an agreement with Federal prosecutors, both Ogorodnikovs pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Nikolai Ogorodnikov was immediately sentenced to eight years imprisonment. His wife later received a sentence of 18 years, but maintained her innocence and stated that Miller had never provided her with any classified information.

Richard Miller pleaded not guilty, and after 11 weeks of testimony, a mistrial was declared. Following a second trial which ended on June 19, 1986, Miller was found guilty of espionage and bribery. During his trial, Miller attempted to claim that his actions were the result of his unapproved attempts to infiltrate the KGB as a double agent. This claim was rejected by the jury.

On July 14, 1986, Richard Miller was sentenced to two consecutive life terms and 50 years on other charges. This conviction was overturned in 1989 on the grounds that U.S. District Judge David Kenyon erred in admitting polygraph evidence during the trial. In October 1989, Miller was granted bail while awaiting a new trial.

...
Wikipedia