THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604280086
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ORLANDO SENTINEL
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Kurt Lessenthien guarded Navy secrets so closely that he wouldn't even tell his family about his voyages aboard nuclear submarines or his work at the Orlando Naval Training Center.
Yet federal investigators say the machinist's mate didn't mind telling the Russians those same secrets he had kept from his own brother.
``Any time I'd ask him what he did, he'd say `It's classified. If I told you, I'd have to kill you,' '' Eric Lessenthien said of his brother. ``That's why I can't believe he told anyone else. He wouldn't even tell his own family.''
Kurt Lessenthien spent his 30th birthday last week at a Navy stockade in Norfolk. This week, investigators expect to arraign the 12-year Navy veteran on espionage charges.
He was arrested Monday at an Orlando International Airport motel after he was videotaped turning over documents to an FBI agent posing as a Russian.
Kurt Lessenthien moved to Orlando six months ago with his 18-year-old bride and her 6-month-old baby. From 1993 to 1995, he had been stationed on the Albany, a fast-attack sub homeported in Norfolk. But he asked for a transfer from Norfolk to teach at the Orlando Naval Training Center.
He wanted to be close to his cancer-stricken mother, but she died before he could get here, his brother said.
Lessenthien invited James Carter, a friend from Virginia, to join him and his wife in Orlando. Carter said he has rented a room in the couple's two-bedroom home since February.
Carter said Lessenthien led an ordinary life with no apparent problems that might lead a patriot and career Navy man to betray his nation.
``He loved the Navy,'' Carter said. ``He planned to retire Navy.''
The positions and activities of submarines were among the information Lessenthien discussed with undercover agents in Orlando before his arrest, officials said. The search warrant said he corresponded with an undercover agent posing as a Russian.
The charges against Lessenthien stunned his brother.
``He never did anything wrong in his life,'' Eric Lessenthien said. ``He never would cut school even to go fishing. I was the black sheep of the family. He was the perfect child.''
A brief telephone call Wednesday from his brother visibly upset Eric Lessenthien.
``He said he was sorry he put me through everything,'' the older brother said. ``He sounded scared. He sounded like he was very scared.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SPY by CNB