Soviet History Buff Jailed for Selling British Embassy Secrets to Russia

David Ballantyne Smith, the British security guard convicted of selling state secrets including details about embassy personnel and counter-terrorism to Russia while working for the U.K. embassy in Berlin, has been sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison.

The sentencing judge was told how a raid on his home in Potsdam uncovered a Russian flag and various Russian military memorabilia, including Soviet-era military caps. He also had letters from Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine and several history books in Russian, implying he spoke the language.

Smith, 58, admitted to espionage, but denied being paid for it, after he was caught in an undercover sting operation straight out of a James Bond movie script. Men posing as Russian agents offered him big money for “highly sensitive information” which he had no way of acquiring in his capacity as a guard but which he promised anyway. He was also caught on secret tape and surveillance footage discussing friends at the Russian embassy in Berlin.

Read more at The Daily Beast.