WASHINGTON — For nearly 30 years, a now-retired State Department official and his wife conspired to provide classified information to the Cuban government, starting with secrets squirreled away in grocery carts and culminating in encrypted e-mails sent from Internet cafes, federal authorities said Friday.
Walter Kendall Myers, 72, was known to his handlers as "Agent 202," according to an indictment and criminal complaint unsealed in federal court here. Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, was "Agent 123."
Justice Department officials said that, based on what they might have passed on to Cuba over the years, the couple -- especially Kendall Myers -- posed a grave danger to national security.
"The clandestine activity alleged in the charging documents, which spanned nearly three decades, is incredibly serious," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security.
The couple pleaded not guilty at a court appearance Friday afternoon to charges of acting as illegal agents of the Cuban government and wire fraud. They were ordered to remain in custody pending a detention hearing Wednesday.
Washington representatives of the Cuban government could not be reached for comment. Thomas Green, a lawyer identified as the couple's defense counsel, could not be reached either.
The charging documents suggested in dramatic and extensive detail that the Myerses spied out of a love for Cuba and its leader, Fidel Castro, and a desire for adventure.
The pair received little in the way of payment, the documents contend. Instead, they reportedly earned medals from the communist government -- and even had a four-hour meeting with Castro in 1995. According to the documents, Castro visited the couple at a small house in Cuba where they were staying after traveling through Mexico under false names.
Prosecutors allege that the couple also traveled to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina to meet with Cuban contacts.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered an internal investigation into the case, a "comprehensive damage assessment in coordination with the intelligence community," and a thorough review of past and current State Department security procedures to prevent such breaches in the future.
"The secretary of State takes this matter, like any allegation of criminal wrongdoing, seriously," the department said in a statement.
