Espionage: Case of the Lovelorn Spy

The course of true love never did run smooth, but the affairs of confessed Soviet Agent Svetlana Ogorodnikova have proved particularly bumpy. Over the past two weeks, Ogorodnikova has disrupted the Los Angeles espionage trial of her former paramour, ex-FBI Agent Richard Miller, with sobbing assertions of his and her innocence. “Richard is not a traitor of his country,” she told the judge in chambers, and “I am not Russian spy.” Instead, she portrayed herself as a boozy, lovelorn emigre who rebounded to Miller after she was jilted by his colleague, former FBI Counterintelligence Agent John Hunt. Hunt has denied having any romantic involvement with Ogorodnikova.

The Soviet woman’s tale of woe directly contradicts a confession she made last June implicating Miller in a plot to pass FBI documents to the Soviets in exchange for promises of $65,000. Ogorodnikova, 36, is serving an 18-year sentence for espionage.