John Walker Arrested

Picture - USS Razorback crewman in the radio room - 1960s

Twenty four years ago today, on the afternoon of May 18th, 1985, John Anthony Walker, a retired U.S. Navy Warrant Officer and former enlisted radioman, was arrested by the FBI for spying for the Soviet Union.

On that day, the FBI uncovered a spying operation, born out of pure greed, that had started in the 1960s and lasted nearly 20 years. It has been described as "the most damaging Soviet spy ring in history."

In the early 1960s, BEFORE he began spying for the Russians, John Anthony Walker was assigned to USS Razorback.

He would later serve on many different submarines.

After being caught, John Walker agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and investigators in exchange for his son Micheal (who was also involved in spying, but only in a minor role) receiving a light sentence. Micheal also agreed to testify and after being convicted, was paroled in 2000 after serving 15 years in prison.

John Anthony Walker was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Jerry Whitworth, John Walker's partner in the spy ring was sentenced to 365 years in prison.

John Walker will not be eligible for parole until 2015 at the earliest. He will have served 30 years of his life sentence at that time and will be 78 years old.

There are several good books about John Walker in the AIMM reference library.

(The above picture is NOT John Walker).