U.S. Soldier Convicted Of Spying For Jordan In Gulf War Buildup
HEIDELBERG, Germany - An American soldier who admitted to providing a Jordanian intelligence agent with information on the Desert Storm buildup has been sentenced to 34 years in prison, the U.S. Army says.
Army headquarters in Heidelberg said yesterday that Spc. Albert Sombolay, who was paid "about $1,300 for his activities," also admitted getting in touch with Iraqi officials.
Sombolay pleaded guilty to charges of espionage and contacting the enemy.
He was arrested on March 29 and sentenced in July but information about the case was delayed so investigators could continue the probe, the Army said.
"During an investigation prior to his arrest, Sombolay had told an undercover agent he had initiated contact with the Jordanian and Iraqi embassies in Belgium and Germany in December 1990," the military statement said. He had been serving with an artillery unit of the 8th Infantry Division, which has its headquarters in the central German city of Bad Kreuznach.
At the time Sombolay was said to have made the contacts, the United States and its allies were building up troop strength in Saudi Arabia before launching the offensive to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
The statement continued: "He subsequently admitted to providing Desert Shield-Desert Storm deployment information, identification documents and samples of U.S. Army chemical protection equipment to a foreign intelligence officer from Jordan."
Sombolay also offered to photograph his unit's activities in Saudi Arabia, according to the statement.
U.S. Army spokesman Jim Boyle said he did not know the soldier's hometown.
The spokesman did not say whether the information he provided was damaging.