21 January 2002
Source: Digital file purchased from Eastern Virginia District Court official
reporter Norman Linnell; telephone (703) 549-4626.
See court docket: http://cryptome.org/usa-v-rph-dkt.htm
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1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
2 Alexandria Division
3
4
5 -------------------------------:
:
6 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
:
7 :
-vs- : Cr. No. 01-188-A
8 :
:
9 ROBERT PHILIP HANSSEN, :
Defendant. :
10 :
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11
12
13
14 GUILTY PLEA
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July 6, 2001
16
17 Before: Claude M. Hilton, Judge
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19
20 APPEARANCES:
21 Kenneth E. Melson, Randy I. Bellows, Justin W. Williams,
Laura A. Ingersoll, John J. Dion and Gordon Kromberg,
22 Counsel for the United States
23
Plato Cacheris, Preston Burton and John F. Hundley,
24 Counsel for the Defendant
25 The Defendant, Robert Philip Hanssen, in person
Norman B. Linnell OCR-USDC/EDVA (703)549-4626
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1 THE CLERK: Criminal case 2001-188-A, the United
2 States versus Robert Philip Hanssen. Will counsel please
3 note your appearance for the record.
4 MR. BELLOWS: Good morning, Your Honor. Randy
5 Bellows, Justin Williams, Laura Ingersoll, John Dion, Gordon
6 Kromberg and Ken Melson, United States Attorney, for the
7 United States.
8 THE COURT: All right.
9 MR. CACHERIS: Good morning, Your Honor. Plato
10 Cacheris, Preston Burton, John Hundley. Not with us today is
11 Sydney Hoffmann, but she is a member of the team. We are
12 here for Mr. Hanssen.
13 MR. BELLOWS: Your Honor, at this time I would like
14 to tender to the Court the original signed copies of the plea
15 agreement, the statement of facts and the consent order of
16 forfeiture. They are identical to the documents that were
17 provided to the Court, courtesy copies earlier this week.
18 For the record, Your Honor, I would like to note
19 that this is an 11(e)(1)(C) plea. It was submitted to the
20 Court for its review. And on June 14 the Court accepted the
21 plea agreement and advised the parties that it would embody
22 the judgment and sentence called for in the plea agreement,
23 which is life imprisonment.
24 Thank you.
25 THE COURT: All right. Let the defendant be sworn.
Norman B. Linnell OCR-USDC/EDVA (703)549-4626
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1 NOTE: The defendant is sworn.
2 MR. CACHERIS: Your Honor, as you know, we are here
3 for the purposes of changing a plea. And if I may take a
4 moment to address the Court on a few issues I think the Court
5 should be aware of.
6 THE COURT: All right.
7 MR. CACHERIS: I would be pleased to do so. Thank
8 you.
9 Mr. Hanssen is here this morning, Your Honor, to
10 tender a plea of guilty to certain counts in the indictment.
11 They are Counts 1 through 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 through 15, 18, 20
12 and 21.
13 Counts 5, 7, 10, 16, 17 and 19 are to be dismissed
14 for reasons that we have, we think, convinced the Government
15 that the statute of limitations has expired on those counts.
16 In the context of this plea, I would like the Court
17 to know and Mr. Hanssen would like the Court to know that he
18 commenced his espionage activities in the 1979/1980 period.
19 And he ceased those activities in 1981 voluntarily.
20 However, between 1985 and 1991/1992 Mr. Hanssen
21 resumed his espionage activities, and during that time period
22 transmitted sensitive and classified information to the
23 Soviet Union and its successor Russia as described in the
24 indictment and statement of facts.
25 Between 1992 and 1999 Mr. Hanssen did not engage in
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1 espionage and did not transmit any classified material to any
2 foreign power. However, in 1999 he resumed his activities,
3 and that persisted until his arrest on February 18, 2001.
4 I might tell you that when he was arrested, on that
5 date he had a premonition that he was going to be arrested.
6 And regardless of that, he went to the drop site where he was
7 arrested. The Government has provided us with a videotape of
8 that whole incident, his dropping the materials and his
9 arrest.
10 Accordingly, Your Honor, he was not a person who
11 spied constantly for 20 years. He did so intermittently at
12 his option.
13 These facts presented to we, the defense team,
14 certain legal and factual issues which we have investigated
15 and we have discussed with Mr. Hanssen, such as the ex post
16 facto application, the statute of limitations and the
17 argument about the duplicity or possible duplicity of one of
18 the counts in the indictment.
19 Furthermore, we have consulted with a discrete and
20 professional psychiatrist, Dr. David Charney of Alexandria,
21 who advises us that no credible medical mental defense would
22 be successful in this case.
23 Mr. Hanssen has agreed with the analysis that we
24 have given him and with the statement of Dr. Charney. He
25 understands, furthermore, that if all legal defenses were
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1 successful, he would be, nevertheless, convicted of at least
2 one count of espionage for which the Sentencing Guidelines
3 and all relevant conduct would mandate a life sentence. He
4 has advised us that he wishes the Court to take the plea that
5 he is to tender to the Court today.
6 We suggest to the Court that this is one of those
7 rare cases where both sides have won. The death penalty has
8 been removed, and Mr. Hanssen is in the process of telling
9 the Government all factors involved in his activities.
10 He is prepared to take his plea.
11 THE COURT: All right.
12 MR. BELLOWS: Your Honor, there is only one thing
13 that I would respond to here, and that's certainly it is the
14 Government's view that the statute of limitations had not run
15 on any count.
16 The decision of the United States to agree to
17 dismiss the six counts that Mr. Cacheris referred to was in
18 light of Mr. Hanssen pleading guilty to 15 counts, which
19 include the 13 substantive espionage counts that are death
20 penalty eligible and the conspiracy count which is death
21 penalty eligible.
22 Thank you.
23 THE COURT: Very well.
24 All right. Mr. Hanssen, you have now been placed
25 under oath, and I am going to ask you certain questions
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1 concerning the plea and the offense itself.
2 Do you understand if you give any false answers to
3 any of these questions, you could subject yourself to a
4 charge of perjury?
5 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: Would you state your full name.
7 THE DEFENDANT: Robert P. Hanssen.
8 THE COURT: And how old are you?
9 THE DEFENDANT: I am 57.
10 THE COURT: What is the extent of your education?
11 THE DEFENDANT: I have a graduate degree from
12 Northwestern University, a Master's in business
13 administration.
14 THE COURT: Have you reviewed the plea agreement
15 which has been signed by you and your counsel on the one hand
16 and the Government on the other?
17 THE DEFENDANT: I have, Your Honor.
18 THE COURT: And does it contain the entire
19 understanding you have reached with the Government in this
20 matter?
21 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, it does, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Have you received a copy of the
23 indictment and gone over it with your attorneys?
24 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I have.
25 THE COURT: Do you feel as though you thoroughly
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1 understand the charges against you in this case?
2 THE DEFENDANT: I do, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Do you understand that Count 1 charges
4 you with a conspiracy to commit espionage; and that Counts 2,
5 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 and 18, 20 and 21 charge
6 you with specific acts of espionage?
7 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor, I do.
8 THE COURT: And you understand that in order to
9 convict you of those offenses, the Government would have to
10 prove beyond a reasonable doubt that in Count 1 you did in
11 fact conspire with others, that you conspired to commit
12 espionage; that in those remaining counts, that you did in
13 fact commit espionage; and that you did so knowingly,
14 willfully and intentionally?
15 THE DEFENDANT: That's correct, Your Honor.
16 THE COURT: Now, have you told your attorneys all
17 the facts about the case that you know?
18 THE DEFENDANT: Completely, sir.
19 THE COURT: Do you feel you have had a sufficient
20 length of time to confer with your attorneys in order to
21 fully understand the case?
22 THE DEFENDANT: Absolutely.
23 THE COURT: Are you satisfied with the
24 representation your attorneys have given you?
25 THE DEFENDANT: Very much so, sir.
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1 THE COURT: Now, you understand if your plea is
2 accepted, that all of these offenses call for the maximum of
3 the death penalty, a fine of up to $250,000, a five-year term
4 of supervised release; however, this plea agreement would
5 limit that sentence to a sentence of life imprisonment?
6 THE DEFENDANT: I do, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: All right. Now, you also understand
8 that the sentence involved here is affected by the Sentencing
9 Guidelines, and that you have agreed to a specific sentence
10 to be imposed?
11 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, they have all been gone over
12 with me, sir.
13 THE COURT: And you understand that if you violated
14 any of the terms and conditions of your supervised release,
15 you would have to serve that period of time?
16 THE DEFENDANT: I do.
17 THE COURT: And do you also understand that by
18 agreeing to the sentence in this case, you are waiving any
19 rights you may have to appeal the sentence that may be
20 imposed?
21 THE DEFENDANT: I understand that, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Now, do you also understand you have an
23 absolute right to plead not guilty?
24 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
25 THE COURT: And do you understand that if you did
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1 plead not guilty, you have certain constitutional guarantees?
2 That is, the right to a speedy and public trial by jury if
3 you want a jury; the right not to testify and remain silent
4 unless you want to testify; the right to see, hear and
5 cross-examine all witnesses against you; the right to use the
6 process of this court to compel the production of evidence
7 and attendance of witnesses in your behalf; and the right to
8 the assistance of a lawyer at all stages of the proceedings.
9 Do you understand that by pleading guilty you are
10 giving up these constitutional guarantees?
11 THE DEFENDANT: I do, sir.
12 THE COURT: And do you understand that by pleading
13 guilty, the Court may impose the same punishment as if you
14 had been tried and convicted by a Court or by a jury?
15 THE DEFENDANT: I understand that, sir.
16 THE COURT: Now, has anyone made any promise or
17 threat to induce you to plead guilty?
18 THE DEFENDANT: No, sir.
19 THE COURT: Now, along with this plea agreement was
20 filed and handed to me a statement of facts. Have you
21 reviewed this statement of facts?
22 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I have gone over it in detail,
23 sir.
24 THE COURT: And have you reviewed it with your
25 attorneys?
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1 THE DEFENDANT: With the attorneys, yes.
2 THE COURT: Do you disagree in any particular with
3 this statement of facts?
4 THE DEFENDANT: No, I do not, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: Is what this statement of facts says
6 happened in fact what did happen?
7 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
8 THE COURT: Now, you understand that once you have
9 pled guilty, you cannot refuse to testify against any
10 confederates, accomplices or co-defendants who may now or
11 hereafter be charged with the same or associated crime?
12 THE DEFENDANT: I do, sir.
13 THE COURT: And do you understand that by pleading
14 guilty, you waive the right to object to any question
15 concerning the legality of the admission or seizure of any
16 evidence in connection with this charge?
17 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor, I do.
18 THE COURT: And do you understand that if your plea
19 is accepted now, there will be no further trial of any kind
20 and you will be found guilty?
21 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
22 THE COURT: All right. Do you make any claim that
23 you are innocent of the charges contained in any of the
24 Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20 and
25 21?
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1 THE DEFENDANT: No such claims, sir.
2 THE COURT: Then how do you plead to those counts?
3 THE DEFENDANT: Guilty.
4 THE COURT: All right. The Court finds the plea is
5 voluntarily and intelligently entered, there is a factual
6 basis to support the plea and would find the defendant guilty
7 of those Counts 1--
8 MR. BELLOWS: Your Honor, the only thing I would
9 say for the record is that Count 21, which the Court referred
10 to, is an attempted espionage count as opposed to a
11 substantive espionage count.
12 The other thing I would put on the record is that
13 the parties have stipulated to a waiver of a presentence
14 report because the sentence in this case would be life
15 imprisonment without parole.
16 THE COURT: All right. Do you understand that
17 Count 21 is an attempted espionage count?
18 THE DEFENDANT: I do, sir.
19 THE COURT: I didn't indicate that earlier.
20 The Court finds the plea is voluntarily and
21 intelligently entered, there is a factual basis to support
22 the plea and finds the defendant guilty of the charges
23 contained in Counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and
24 15, 18, 20 and 21.
25 And there is an order of forfeiture here that I
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1 will enter at this time.
2 Is there also an order to dismiss those remaining
3 counts?
4 MR. BELLOWS: Yes, Your Honor. At this point we
5 would ask the Court to dismiss the remaining counts of the
6 indictment. And those counts are Counts Number 5, 7, 10, 16,
7 17 and 19.
8 THE COURT: All right. The Government's motion is
9 granted. Those counts will be dismissed.
10 And will you get me an order on that?
11 MR. BELLOWS: Yes, Your Honor.
12 THE COURT: And I will enter that order, Mr.
13 Hanssen, as soon as it is presented to me. And those counts
14 will be dismissed.
15 MR. BELLOWS: Your Honor, we would propose a
16 sentencing date of January 11. I have talked to Mr. Cacheris
17 about that.
18 THE COURT: All right. The case will be continued
19 to January 11 at 9:00 a.m. for sentencing.
20 MR. BELLOWS: Thank you.
21 THE COURT: All right.
22 ------------------------------------------------
HEARING CONCLUDED
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I certify that the foregoing is a true and
24 accurate transcription of my stenographic notes.
25 _________________________________
Norman B. Linnell, CP, CM, CE
Norman B. Linnell OCR-USDC/EDVA (703)549-4626