Robert Lee Johnson (1922 – May 18, 1972) was an American sergeant who spied for the Soviet Union.
Johnson volunteered to spy for the KGB while he was stationed at Berlin, Germany. He also recruited a former United States Army, Army friend, James Mintkenbaugh. Johnson worked for the KGB between 1953 and 1964, and passed on information while stationed at various sites in Europe and the U.S.
Most famously, when working in the U.S. courier center at Orly Airport south of Paris, he occasionally had night duty alone in the center, where dispatches arrived to and from United States Air Force, Air Force 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, 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.
References
External links
*
{{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