Why would that matter? There is no Israel Exception in our espionage and treason laws.
It could be considered a mitigating factor if he only gave information to our allies.
You might find this article interesting.
Ask the ghosts of the Rosenberg if thats true.
I’m sure any mitigating factors were taken into account at his sentencing.
All I see there are quotes from the CIA. Is there anything from a reliable source?
I think you can do better than that.
What, lie better than the CIA? Sorry - I don’t have their experience.
Okay, maybe not.
Sure, 30 years is long enough. He was an American citizen so to me his crime is more grave than a foreign national who comes into the country specifically to spy, those types of spies are more often traded for in spy swaps. Pollard was an American citizen, working for us, who turned coat.
To me that puts him closer to Aldrich Ames territory than it does to “innocuous foreign agent we’ll just send back home with a stern warning.” But that being said, crimes have a just punishment, 30 years is probably longer than he should’ve served. I’d have been fine with him serving 10 or so and being released.
Nice to see you taking the American military-industrial complex’s side, Elvis.
Pollard plead guilty so he ostensibly had a reason to do so despite his lawyers telling him the sentence would be severe. I imagine this is because he knows he would’ve fared even worse in a trial. It’s because Pollard declined to mount an aggressive defense the claims are no more substantiated than they were–there has been no reason to vet them in open court. But that’s on Pollard, if he felt his true crimes were so minor he shouldn’t have plead and agreed to such a lengthy sentence.
That’s one perfectly legitimate interpretation. The fact, though, is that we just don’t know. You are entitled to believe that he was a mercenary who was willing to sell info to the highest bidder, and that the Israeli government was willing to betray U.S military secrets to the Soviet Union. I believe that these claims are not true. Neither of us has any substantiated evidence to support our beliefs.
Right, and I don’t care, actually. Pollard agreed to a lengthy sentence. So the fact that no one has “proven” the worst stuff he was accused of is irrelevant–he stipulated guilt of espionage and agreed to a life sentence with the possibility of parole. If his argument is that he was just spying for a friend and should have received leniency, and that the worst stuff said about him isn’t true, he could’ve made that argument in a trial.
Pollard, in a bid to apply political pressure via Israel and American Jews, also violated the terms of his plea agreement prior to sentencing, which absolutely affected the judge’s sentencing decision. Pollard knew he was eligible for life imprisonment, all of this stuff is explained very clearly to people that sign plea agreements on Federal charges. The prosecutor can make a recommendation, but the judge is free to make is own decision. His decision in this case was impacted by Pollard violating the plea agreement prior to sentencing.
Part of what Pollard got from the plea agreement is he only had to plead guilty to one crime. The government was going to charge him with other counts as well, which they agreed to drop in exchange for a plea. So again, it’s hard to feel sorry for someone that put themselves where they are and made said decisions fully cognizant of the consequences.
I agree he should have gone to jail. I just think he was operating due to (misguided) loyalty to Israel, and not for monetary gain. I also have less faith in the U.S. justice system and the purity of its motives than you do.
I don’t get the hoopla. He’s been in jail 30 years. There is a federal law under which after 30 years the that parole must be granted, unless the parole commission determines that
- He has seriously or frequently violated prison rules,
or
- There’s a “reasonable probability” that he will commit a crime upon his release.
Since he behaved well and there is no “reasonable probability” that he will be committing any crimes upon his release, his release is basically automatic.
Again, why does that matter? Does that assessment, based on whatever it may be based on, excuse treating him as a hero?
He went to jail for us. We owe him. It’s as simple as that.
Needs context. What do other spies of that sort typically serve?
Actually I think they typically do.
That’s not nearly the full story. On the basis of Pollard’s plea bargain he would have gotten a much shorter sentence. What happened next was that Pollard gave some sort of media interview in which he portrayed himself as a hero, out to save the Jewish People by giving them info about the Arabs that the US was required to share under Intel-sharing agreements. This both enraged the Judge and also provoked the prosecution to declare their end of the plea bargain null and void, and they asked for more than the agreed-upon amount.
Pollard had basis to appeal, by saying that he should no longer be held to his plea, but his lawyer did not file the papers in time. This in turn formed the basis for years of unsucessful “ineffective counsel” appeals.
I suspect that Pollard has served a lot longer than he might have otherwise due to the efforts of the Israeli government and various American Jewish groups. The upshot of their efforts was to raise his profile significantly, and to insure that any early release would be perceived as an acceptance of the idea that spying for Israel is no big deal. This provoked substantial opposition in the intelligence community and the public at large. Had things been quieter (and had he been more contrite) he might have made it out sooner.