Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994 TAG: 9403100175
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press WASHINGTON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., lawyers for the couple said, ``The government's interest in preserving available property cannot outweigh the Ames' interest in providing necessary living expenses for their son,'' Paul.
The boy is staying with family friends in Northern Virginia, defense lawyers say, because Ames, a 31-year CIA veteran, and his wife, Rosario, have been denied bail while facing charges of spying for the Soviets and then the Russians.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton is to hear arguments today on the government's motion to renew an expiring order barring the couple from using money in 11 bank and brokerage accounts here and abroad.
In an unusual move, prosecutors also have asked Hilton to order the couple to take $2,245,311 from foreign accounts and hand it over to the court. Prosecutors said that ``is the minimum amount of espionage proceeds that the defendants are charged with having earned'' by spying for Moscow since 1985.
The government wants to seize control of the money now so it can be forfeited if the Ameses are convicted.
The defense opposed the bid to repatriate assets. It also asked that the restraining order be denied or, at least, ``this court should modify any restraining order to allow for the expenditure of reasonable living expenses for the support of'' the child, Aldrich Ames' lawyer, Plato Cacheris, wrote in a 17-page brief.
Rosario Ames' attorney, William Cummings, filed a paper endorsing Cacheris' arguments. ``The interests were the same ... so there was no point in filing two documents with the same arguments,'' Cummings said in an interview.
``It is likely that this case will take, at minimum, several months to resolve,'' Cacheris wrote. ``The restraint of these funds will impose a financial hardship on the Ameses' son who is already enduring the nightmare of having both of his parents incarcerated, potentially for the rest of their lives.''
Opposing repatriation, Cacheris wrote, ``there is no record of the source, amount or value of assets allegedly located in Switzerland or Colombia,'' Rosario Ames' homeland.
Further, he said, a repatriation order would be inappropriate because the court has no jurisdiction over the foreign assets and ``Switzerland and Colombia would not honor a criminal forfeiture judgment in the event of a conviction, because espionage is a political crime not recognized for extradition purposes by those countries.''
by CNB