THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250521
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 72 lines
A sailor facing life in prison for attempted espionage committed the crime apparently for love.
After racking up nearly $25,000 in credit card bills on a ``relentless pursuit of women'' he wanted to marry, Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt G. Lessenthien decided he could pay them only by selling his nation's secrets to Russia.
So concluded a Navy psychiatrist, who testified in Lessenthien's court-martial Thursday that the sailor suffered personality flaws that drove him to ruin what had been ``a startlingly good'' military record.
Lessenthien, who has pleaded guilty to attempted espionage and wrongfully disclosing classified material, is being tried at the Norfolk Naval Station before a six-member court-martial panel that is considering his sentence.
Except for Thursday afternoon, when he was allowed to present his defense, the proceedings have been closed to the public, the Navy saying that evidence surrounding the 30-year-old sailor's case is too sensitive to reveal.
He was arrested April 22 at an Orlando, Fla., motel after he was videotaped turning over documents - which the Navy identified as ``Top Secret'' - to an FBI agent posing as a Russian.
He possessed such secrets because he served aboard four nuclear-powered submarines, including one in Norfolk, and was an instructor at the Navy's Nuclear Power School in Orlando.
Capt. Michael M. Knowlan, chairman of the Portsmouth Medical Center's psychiatry department, said Lessenthien was overbearing with the women in his life, showering at least three whom he sought to marry with extravagant gifts and going deep into debt to provide for them.
He invited Jessica Pendergrass, pregnant by another man, to stay with him in Orlando, furnishing $1,600 for baby furniture and remodeling his duplex. When the couple married in October 1995, Lessenthien sent her flowers and other gifts almost daily. He also bought her a car.
A former girlfriend testified that Lessenthien invited her and her son to stay at his Virginia Beach apartment following her divorce. Although he was bound for an overseas deployment, he bought her a car, prepaid the insurance on the car, prepaid the rent and utility bills, and left her several signed, blank checks.
The women described him as a ``perfect gentleman'' and ``wonderful provider.''
Knowlan testified he interviewed and tested Lessenthien to determine ``how a service member with a startlingly good record ended up with such a severe charge.''
He concluded that the sailor's abandonment by his father and his stepfather, his introversion, the death of his mother and other psychological troubles may have shaped his relationships with women.
``When he encounters a relationship, he is driven to great lengths to maintain that relationship,'' Knowlan said.
His arrest came after federal agents received a tip that Lessen-thien was in the market to sell secrets, and had telephoned the Russian Embassy in Washington with an offer. He never hooked up with a real foreign agent, Navy officials said at the time, and none of the secrets fell into foreign hands.
Knowlan said he did not believe Lessenthien had a criminal mind.
``He was drained financially (and) that led to a lapse in judgment,'' he said.
The trial is expected to continue into next week, with most of it remaining behind closed doors. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt G. Lessenthien, holding hands with his
wife, Jessica Pendergrass, shows up Thursday for his court-martial
before a six-member panel that is considering his sentence.
KEYWORDS: SPY U.S. NAVY TESTIMONY COURT-MARTIAL by CNB