American Notes

It took almost seven years and three trials, but in Los Angeles last week, , Richard Miller, 54, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, thus becoming the only FBI agent ever convicted of spying.

But this is a thriller that owes more to Peter Sellers than to John le Carre. In 1984, when the bumbling 250-lb. Miller was arrested after having an affair with a Soviet agent and giving her a handbook on U.S. counterintelligence techniques, the FBI was shocked. It shouldn't have been. On a $50,000 salary, Miller was attempting to support a wife, eight children, a Los Angeles bungalow and a San Diego County farm.

Miller's first trial ended with a hung jury, and the second was reversed. In the third, Judge Robert Takasugi convicted Miller of espionage. "Mr. Miller was totally out of control," said Takasugi. "I wonder why the agency allowed him to serve when it knew of his susceptible qualities."