Business Notes Defense

A well-known communications and electronics corporation admitted last week that it illegally received secret Pentagon papers. Gee! No, GTE. In U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., the Justice Department charged that from 1978 to 1983 GTE's government-systems unit obtained classified defense budget plans. GTE, which makes electronic-warfare devices like radar- jamming gear, could have used the information to anticipate products the Pentagon might order. The Stamford, Conn., company, which won $714 million in defense contracts last year, will pay a $10,000 fine and $580,000 for the costs of the investigation.

A grand jury indicted three individuals: Walter Edgington, a GTE vice president; Robert Carter, a former marketing manager; and Bernie Zettl, a defense-industry consultant in McLean, Va. Investigators say that Edgington requested documents from Zettl, a retired Air Force major, who got them through Pentagon contacts and sent the material to a post office box in Mountain View, Calif. Carter allegedly picked up the purloined papers. Zettl and Edgington, who were indicted for receiving classified documents, could be sentenced to 25 years in prison, and Carter faces a conspiracy charge that may result in a five-year term.