CIA agent who spied for Russia 'recruited his son'

A former CIA agent jailed for espionage had his son meet Russian agents around the world to collect money from his former handlers, a federal indictment alleges.

Court papers say Harold Nicholson sent his 24-year-old son, Nathaniel, to San Francisco, Mexico City, Lima and, in December, Cyprus. Nathaniel Nicholson allegedly delivered information to the Russian spy agency and collected about $47,000 (£32,500).

David Miller, FBI chief special agent for Oregon, said he believed it was the first time anybody had faced trial twice in the US for espionage. The father and son pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of conspiring to act as agents of a foreign government and money laundering. Their trial begins on 31 March.

Harold Nicholson pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring to commit espionage after the Russians paid $300,000 for secrets he handed over. As a CIA trainer, he gave the Russians the identities of the recruits and the identities of high-level CIA officers.

A bank robber at the prison in Sheridan, Oregon, where Nicholson is serving a 23-year sentence, told authorities the CIA renegade was trying to make contact with his former spymasters. ap