Richard Miller

Richard William Miller (1936 – October 16, 2013) was an American FBI agent who was the first FBI agent indicted for and convicted of espionage. In 1991, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was freed after serving less than three years.

Personal life Richard William Miller was born in Wilmington, California in 1936. He graduated from high school in Lynwood, California. He completed a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Latino communities in Texas, and then attended Compton Junior College. He was a 1963 graduate of Brigham Young University, and a 20-year veteran of the FBI at the time of his arrest.

Colleagues who knew Miller described him as "bumbling", "inept", and "lunchy". The last description referred to his unkempt appearance, and the fact that he often was observed with food crumbs and stains on his clothing. Former FBI Special Agent and author Gary Aldrich described Miller in this manner:

Most agents assigned to Los Angeles during that time who knew Miller would probably agree that he should never have been hired in the first place. How he even got through the FBI Academy was a big mystery. But how Miller avoided losing his job for being one of the dumbest, most unkempt, most unpopular misfits the agency had ever hired was not a mystery. The management should have watched Miller more carefully.

Additionally, according to a Washington Monthly article by Matthew Miller (no relation), Miller was described in this fashion:

After 20 years with the bureau, Miller had a personnel file filled with doubts about his job performance. His superiors had repeatedly admonished him to control his ballooning weight. And in 1982, a psychologist examined Miller and told the FBI that he was emotionally unstable and should be nurtured along in some harmless post until retirement.

During a September, 1986 segment for the CBS news program 60 Minutes, colleagues interviewed on camera observed that Miller had been such a sub-par performer that he had at one time lost his gun and FBI credentials. Miller was alleged to have provided classified documents, including an FBI Counterintelligence manual, to the Ogorodnikovs after demanding $50,000 in gold and $15,000 cash in return.

After his arrest, a fuller portrait emerged of Miller. He was alleged to have cheated his uncle by selling a muscle-relaxant device the uncle had patented, and to have skimmed bureau cash intended for an informant.

First and second trials After a 10-week trial, in June 1985 each Ogorodnikov pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Nikolai Ogorodnikov was immediately sentenced to eight years imprisonment. His wife received a sentence of 18 years, Miller pleaded not guilty, and after 11 weeks of testimony, a mistrial was declared, with two jurors later indicating they believed Miller's claim of attempting to infiltrate the KGB without the knowledge of his superiors.

At his second trial, which ended on June 19, 1986, Miller again claimed his actions were the result of unapproved attempts to infiltrate the KGB as a double agent. In October 1989, Miller was granted bail while awaiting a new trial.

Nikolai Ogorodnikov was released from prison in February 1990. He worked as a bus driver for a Los Angeles hotel, but the U.S. government later identified him as a security risk, targeted him for deportation, and held him in prison in Virginia during the proceedings.

Third trial For Miller's third trial, the lead prosecutor was Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schiff. He later reported that during one of his prison terms he befriended fellow inmate Lyndon LaRouche. Schiff recounts his work on the Miller trial in his 2021 book Midnight in Washington.

While in prison, Miller trained to become a computer technician. Svetlana Ogorodnikova was released the same year. After several years in Tijuana, she and her husband entered the U.S. illegally and resided in Fallbrook, California.

Later life Following his release, Miller relocated to Northern Utah. Miller died in Utah on October 16, 2013.