On this day, June 4, in 1986, Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to espionage for selling top secret U.S. military intelligence to Israel.
Although the full extent of the information he handed away has never been revealed, the former Navy intelligence analyst sold enough classified documents to fill an office.
Pollard’s scheme was discovered when supervisors learned that he was removing enormous amounts of top secret material that was outside his purview. While he was being questioned, he took a break, called his wife and said their code word “cactus,” meaning that she should remove all documents from their home.
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When his bosses let him go, Pollard and his wife sped to the Israeli Embassy, hoping to win refuge there. But the guards ordered the couple to leave, and the FBI arrested him.
Pollard admitted his guilt and received a life sentence. He is housed in a federal prison in North Carolina.
Israel denied that he was an Israeli spy until 1998, but now actively lobbies for his release.
