Robert Lee Johnson (1922 – May 18, 1972) was an American sergeant who spied for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Johnson volunteered to spy for the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

while he was stationed at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He also recruited a former

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

friend, James Mintkenbaugh. Johnson worked for the KGB between 1953 and 1964, and passed on information while stationed at various sites in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and the U.S. Most famously, when working in the U.S. courier center at

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...

south of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, he occasionally had night duty alone in the center, where dispatches arrived to and from

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

and Army bases in Europe. He used to come out of the center and hand KGB contacts envelopes full of documents to photocopy. They had a car waiting in which they sped to the Soviet embassy, photographed the documents, replaced them, and resealed the envelopes so there was no trace that they had been opened. Then they rushed them back to Orly to get them to Johnson before he went off duty in the morning. In 1964, Johnson was turned in by his wife and, like Mintkenbaugh, received a 25-year prison sentence in 1965. Johnson, who was imprisoned at

Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary The United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg (USP Lewisburg) is a medium-security United States federal prison in Pennsylvania for male inmates. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ...

, was stabbed to death there by his son in 1972: "Johnson, having not seen his son for many years, reached out to shake his hand in the prison reception area when, without saying a word, Robert stabbed his father in the chest. ... Later, when questioned by the FBI as to the motive of the killing, Robert refused to say anything other than "It was a personal matter". Robert Lee Johnson, Jr., was released from prison on December 6, 1983.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Robert Lee 1922 births 1972 deaths Admitted Soviet spies American people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union American people who died in prison custody Deaths by stabbing in Pennsylvania People murdered in Pennsylvania Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention People convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 Spies who died in prison custody United States Army non-commissioned officers American expatriates in Germany