Summary
Overview
In this final episode of The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine, lawyer and author Kate Mills Boyce shares her extraordinary 20-year legal battle to free Christopher Boyce and Andrew Dalton Lee from prison. What began as a simple letter to Dalton Lee in 1980 evolved into a decades-long fight against the US justice system, complicated by cancer, romance, and the blurred lines between professional duty and personal connection. Kate's story reveals how two young men convicted of espionage were treated far more harshly than the actual damage they caused warranted, and how one determined lawyer proved the system wrong.
The Injustice and Publicity Paradox
Throughout the interview, Kate reveals fundamental injustices in how Boyce and Lee were treated. The Parole Commission's use of publicity as a negative factor created a catch-22: the more famous the case became through the book and film, the harder it was to get parole. Meanwhile, actual CIA and FBI agents like Nicholson and Pitts, who had signed oaths of allegiance and caused real damage, received lighter sentences. Kate's 20-year pro bono battle, conducted while fighting recurring cancer, exposed how two young men were punished far beyond what their actual crimes warranted.
- Nicholson and Pitts were actual government agents who caused more damage but got lighter sentences
- Boyce never signed an oath of allegiance despite working in the Black Vault
- The publicity from the book and film actively hurt their parole chances
- Kate worked the entire case pro bono over 20 years
" We're talking about something that happened 50 years ago. I mean, they were convicted in 1977. "
Kate's Introduction to the Case and Meeting Dalton Lee
Kate Mills Boyce, working in a legal aid office in 1980, was urged by colleagues to read The Falcon and the Snowman by Robert Lindsay. After reading it in one night, she was struck by the treatment of Andrew Dalton Lee, who received a life sentence without testifying. This prompted her to write to Lee, beginning a relationship that would define the next two decades of her life. Six months later, she traveled to Lompoc prison to meet him, finding him highly intelligent and personable, contrary to his portrayal in the book.
- Kate read The Falcon and the Snowman in one night and was fascinated by Dalton Lee's harsh treatment
- Lee received a life sentence despite not testifying, while his co-defendant testified against him
- Kate found Lee to be very intelligent and personable, contradicting the book's portrayal of him as drug-addled
- Both Boyce and Lee were sentenced under 4205 B2, making them parolable at any time
" I have to tell you, right off the bat, I really liked him. He was a very personable person. He was very intelligent, very intelligent. And I think that the original book, Falcon and the Snowman, kind of undercuts that, and they treat him like he's some drug-addled idiot. There was nothing drug-addled and idiotic about Mr. Lee. "
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