Lee H. Hamilton Congressional Letter on Sombolay Case

To: Dr. Morris Pollard
Lobund Laboratory, University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556

March 31, 1992

Dear Morris,

I wanted to follow up on your letter of February 26th regarding the case of Specialist Albert Sombolay. I regret the delay in getting this information, but it took some time to find the right people to talk to.

Mr. Sombolay was convicted in Germany in July 1991 on five counts: two counts of espionage; two counts of attempted espionage; and one count of communicating directly with the enemy. In this case the enemy was an Iraqi Government official in Germany. It is my understanding that he pleaded guilty to these counts and that he also pleaded not guilty to other counts involving larceny and other violations. He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and 35 years. The case is still in process and will be taken up by the Court of Military Review sometime in the next six months. In one step in the process, his sentence was already reduced to 19 years, I understand.

The court-appointed attorney for Mr.Sombolay is Capt. Robin Slope (703) 756-0592. She is understandably quite knowledgeable about the case. It is not yet clear who will be the Government's attorney in the case so I could not talk to her or him, but at this point the case is under the purview of Lt. Col. Dell'Orto (703) 756-8367. When Capt. Slope files an appeal in roughly two months, an attorney for the Government's side in the case will be assigned, I am told.

I hope this information is helpful. A transcript of the proceedings in Germany was made available to Mr. Sombolay. I do not know if it is available to others.

It was good to see you recently. I trust you will stay in touch on all issues of mutual interest.

With best regards,

Sincerely,
Lee

Congressman Lee. H. Hamilton
Chairman Subcommittee on Europe and Eastern Affairs