DATE=9/13/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=WEN HO LEE RELEASED (L-ALTERNATE)

NUMBER=2-266467

BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN

DATELINE=LOS ANGELES

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

Voiced At:





INTRO:  Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese-American accused of 

mishandling nuclear secrets, has been released from 

prison under a plea agreement.  Mike O'Sullivan 

reports from our West Coast bureau, the judge 

criticized U-S officials for their handling of the 

case.





TEXT:  Under the agreement, Mr. Lee pleaded guilty to 

one felony count of mishandling nuclear data, and the 

government dropped the remaining 58 charges against 

him.



His release was expected Monday, but was delayed at 

the last minute.  Wednesday, it was approved, and the 

scientist spoke with reporters outside the federal 

courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico.



            /// LEE ACT ///



      I want to say thank you to all the people who 

      supported me.  I really appreciate it very, very 

      much.



            /// END ACT ///



The scientist was fired last year from his job at the 

Los Alamos National Laboratory, and was jailed in 

December.  Prosecutors persuaded the judge he posed a 

security risk, and Mr. Lee was held in solitary 

confinement.



Problems with the government's case began to emerge 

last month, when a senior federal investigator 

admitted to the judge he had made erroneous statements 

in earlier testimony.  The agent, Robert Messemer, 

retracted previous statements that Mr. Lee had lied 

and sought to conceal his actions when he copied 

weapons files.  



Last month, the judge was prepared to release Mr. Lee 

on bail and allow him to stay at home under electronic 

surveillance, as he awaited his trial.  The government 

filed an appeal, which kept Mr. Lee in prison until 

his release Wednesday.



After the release, District Judge James Parker 

apologized for the government for what he called the 

unfair manner in which Mr. Lee was held.  He also 

criticized top officials at the U-S Departments of 

Energy and Justice, saying their handling of the case 

had embarrassed the country.



Outside the courthouse, prosecutors said Mr. Lee has 

never explained why he downloaded hundreds of 

thousands of pages of weapons data.  They also want to 

know the location of seven computer tapes that are now 

missing.  Under the plea agreement, Mr. Lee will 

cooperate with investigators, and submit to lie-

detector tests, if requested.



Prosecutors, for their part, declined to apologize.  

U-S Attorney Norman Bay says the plea agreement helps 

protect U-S security.



            /// BAY ACT ///



      Why did Doctor Lee make the tapes?  What did he 

      do with them?  Does anybody else have them now?  

      This agreement gives us the best opportunity to 

      answer each one of those critical questions.



            /// END ACT ///



Mr. Lee had many supporters, including Asian-American 

groups and fellow scientists.  Even some former 

officials at the Los Alamos laboratory believed he was 

not guilty.  And many who were not sure criticized his 

imprisonment in solitary confinement.  



Mr. Lee was born in Taiwan and is a naturalized U-S 

citizen, and his lawyers say he was targeted because 

of his ethnic background.  But U-S Attorney Norman Bay 

says that race was not an issue in this case.



            /// BAY ACT ///



      It was about the actions of a man who mishandled 

      huge amounts of classified data and who got 

      caught doing it.



            /// END ACT ///



In coming weeks, U-S officials hope to get some 

answers about the scientist's behavior, which they say 

they would not have gotten had they gone to trail.  

The scientist says he is happy he can spend some time 

with his family, and that over the next few days, he 

plans to go fishing.  (Signed)



NEB/MO/TVM/PT







13-Sep-2000 17:44 PM EDT (13-Sep-2000 2144 UTC)

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Source: Voice of America

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