Attorney: Hanssen spied for 'financial' reasons

Admitted spy Robert Hanssen awaits sentencing

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The attorney for admitted spy Robert Hanssen said "financial considerations" were part of the veteran FBI agent's motive for spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia.

"The popular notion is that there were financial considerations as to why he did what he did, and I'm not here to disabuse you of that," attorney Plato Cacheris told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview aired on Friday.

Hanssen pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court July 6 to 15 counts of espionage in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, in order to avoid a possible death sentence. As part of that agreement, he must give the government a detailed account of the information he passed to the Soviet Union and Russia.

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Cacheris said "financial necessity" was a big part of Hanssen's motivation, citing the FBI veteran's family of six children. The indictment against Hanssen claimed that he received some $1.4 million in cash and diamonds for his spying activities.

When asked if Hanssen had no alternative but to resort to spying to make extra money, Cacheris said "I'm not saying that. You're asking me what motivated him and that was a big part of the motivation."

The attorney would not confirm reports that Hanssen spent much of the money on a stripper. Priscilla Sue Gailey, who told CNN she was the stripper in question, said in an interview in May that Hanssen gave her a Mercedes Benz, a computer, and money to fix her teeth and pay her bills, but that their relationship was strictly platonic.

25-year agent

Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union intermittently in 1979 and continued to spy for Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed, according to Cacheris. He was indicted on 21 espionage-related charges, 14 of which carried a possible death sentence.

He explained that Hanssen stopped spying in 1981 and again in 1992 for personal reasons, but resumed in 1999.

Hanssen's sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 11. Under the plea agreement he will receive a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

The indictment alleges that Hanssen, a 25-year FBI agent, took cash and jewels in return for passing along U.S. secrets to Moscow. Those secrets included the identities of U.S. spies, highly classified eavesdropping technology and nuclear war plans, according to the indictment.

"He betrayed his country ... for no other reason than greed," said Ken Melson, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, after the court session last week.

The FBI veteran was arrested in February at a Virginia park minutes after he allegedly left a package under a wooden footbridge. Investigators say the bridge was a drop site for delivering documents to his Russian handlers.

Cacheris said Hanssen had a premonition on the day of his arrest that he would be caught that day, and that he might have subconsciously wanted to get arrested.

Family supportive

The attorney said the FBI veteran has shown remorse to his lawyers, and plans to do so publicly at his sentencing next January.

"My opinion: he's sorry he was engaged in the espionage," Cacheris said.

The attorney said Hanssen's family has been extremely supportive of him and visits him twice a week in prison.

When asked if the family felt betrayed, Cacheris said that's an emotion that has not been expressed.

"I think they were originally in a state of shock when this arrest occurred," the attorney said.

Bonnie Hanssen released a statement Thursday stating her regret for the "damage that her husband, Robert Hanssen, has caused to our country and to their family."

As part of the plea agreement reached with the government, Mrs. Hanssen will receive part of her husband's federal pension -- about $40,000 a year -- as long as she continues to cooperate with federal authorities in their investigation into his espionage activities.