It might mean little today, but at the height of the cold war the act caused Thomas Patrick Cavanaugh to be sentenced to a life term in the federal prison on Terminal Island.
Cavanaugh, who was age 40 when sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Byrne Jr., was an engineer with Northrop Corp. He was arrested Dec. 18, 1984, by FBI men whom he apparently believed were Russian agents.
Cavanaugh tried to sell them the secrets that were later used on the stealth bomber and fighter plane. FBI men testified at the federal trial that he met them at the bar of the Cockatoo Inn in Hawthorne, the Lucky Lodge Motel in Bellflower, and finally at the Hyatt Hotel in Commerce where they finally took him in custody. Undercover tapes made by the FBI at the meetings indicated he had asked $25,000 for the secret technology that makes aircraft invisible to most radars.
He lived with his girlfriend in a quiet apartment in the 10700 block of Downey Avenue at the time of the arrest. While the FBI described him to the court as debt-ridden, checks indicated his credit was still good at the time he was taken in custody.
He had worked three years at Northrop's Advance System's Division in Pico Rivera. The court records and newspaper stories indicated the items he tried to sell the undercover FBI agents included classified manuals, technical drawings and lists of sub-contractors, all taken from the Northrop offices.
These all were keys to the technology that produced the stealth fighter that proved so successful during the Desert Storm campaign against the Iraqis.
FBI spokesman John Hoos said following the arrest, "He (Cavanaugh) was willing to take $25,000 in cash for technology that cost us (the U.S.) billions to develop."
Cavanaugh's mother, sister and girlfriend all sobbed in the courtroom as his sentence was read.
At the time of the sentencing Cavanaugh apologized to his country and co-workers for what he termed his "desperate and disgraceful" actions. He added, "the sorrow and remorse I feel are beyond words."
He could not believe it when the sentence was finally read. His defense attorney said he asked, "Did I get life?"