The FBI offers the below information:
Marian Zacharski (seen on the left
above) was young, charming, and handsome. In his mid-20s, he was a sales rep
and rising star in the U.S. operations of the Polish American Machinery
Corporation and was living a leisurely life in the suburbs of Los Angeles in
the late 1970s.
He was also a spy.
Zacharski was an “illegal”—a foreign
intelligence agent living on U.S. soil, operating undercover and unknown to
American authorities, much like the Russian spies arrested by the FBI in 2010 that
partly inspired the television drama The Americans.
In 1977, Zacharski was sent to
California by the Polish government, then an Eastern bloc country working in
concert with the Soviet Union, to uncover military and industrial secrets in
the aerospace industry.
It wasn’t long before Zacharski
found an ideal target.
His name was William Holden Bell
(seen on the right above). A longtime engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company—an
aerospace and defense firm founded by Howard Hughes in 1932—the nearly
60-year-old Bell had a security clearance and access to vital classified
information. Just as important, he was struggling financially and emotionally
and was vulnerable to recruitment.
The previous months had been trying
for Bell. His debt was mounting. His childhood sweetheart and wife of nearly
three decades had divorced him, saddling him with a regular alimony payment. He
had worked long assignments in Europe, further increasing his expenses.
Compounding his misery was the loss of his youngest son in a fatal accident.
After remarrying, Bell moved to an
apartment complex in the beachside community of Playa del Rey. One of his new
neighbors was Zacharski. The two shared an interest in machine technology and a
love for recreational tennis. They soon began spending time together both on
and off the court. Bell would later tell a Senate committee that Zacharski
eventually became his best friend. Or so it seemed.
Financially, Bell’s troubles
lingered, and he declared bankruptcy. To make matters worse, his community was
being converted into condominiums, and he would have to move. Zacharski offered
to help. He asked Bell to help him make connections for his company at Hughes.
Perhaps, Zacharski proposed, Bell could share some of his knowledge on various
engineering matters as a paid technical consultant. Bell agreed, and the money
began to flow. But ultimately Zacharski wanted more: classified information.
Bell began to show Zacharski
projects he had worked on, like sophisticated radar systems and fixed weapons
platforms. Zacharski supplied a camera and special high-resolution film so Bell
could make photographs of confidential and secret plans and schematics. He
would later receive other concealment devices like a tie rack and a large
wooden chess piece.
As Zacharski paid him a steady
stream of cash and gold coins—ultimately totaling over $110,000 and possibly
much more—Bell knew he had crossed a line from neighborly friendship to
American turncoat. But Zacharski was skillful, keeping Bell in line with clever
manipulation and possibly even threats to his family. The demands for
information just continued to grow, including a series of trips overseas to
deliver it.
Meanwhile, the FBI had become aware
of Zacharski’s activities and had identified Bell as one of his sources. Agents
began following both men, but not before Bell compromised another American radar
system.
Coordinating counterespionage work
here and overseas while building a case that can hold up in U.S. court is
difficult, but the Bureau methodically gathered information and evidence. On
June 24, 1981, agents from FBI Los Angeles confronted Bell. He soon confessed
and allowed the FBI to use microphone surveillance at his next meeting with
Zacharski. Four days later, both men were arrested and charged with
espionage-related crimes.
Bell agreed to plead guilty and
cooperate in the prosecution of Zacharski. By the end of the year, Zacharski
was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Bell was sentenced to eight
years. In 1985, Zacharski and three other Soviet bloc agents were exchanged for
25 people held in Iron Curtain jails for dissenting against Eastern European
communist regimes.
Bell’s betrayal of his country
mirrors the story of many others ensnared by foreign spies both past and
present. Over time, vulnerable Americans are drawn in with money,
companionship, attention, and other “carrots” in exchange for information,
which gradually increases in importance, classification level, and quantity.
The threat remains. Espionage agents
are as skilled, dangerous, and active as ever.
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