Dressen Convicted of Treason, Gets 16 Years
Former National Security Agency official Aleksei Dressen has been convicted of treason and divulging internal information and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
In the closed-door hearing at Harju County Court on July 3, Dressen's wife Viktoria Dressen also was pronounced guilty - of treason and aiding and abetting her husband - and received a suspended sentence of six years with five years probation.
A total of 142,900 euros confiscated from Aleksei Dressen was transferred to the state treasury.
The Dressens were detained at Tallinn Airport on February 22 as Viktoria Dressen was preparing to board a flight for Moscow with classified information. The Public Prosecutor's Office suspected Dressen of passing information, including state secrets, from his post at the agency to the FSB, Russia's secret service.
Dressen, who was decorated in 2004 with a police cross for meritorious service, was with the National Security Agency from 1993; previous positions included senior posts.
The conviction brings resolution to the country's second Russian spy case of this magnitude. Herman Simm was convicted of treason in 2009 and is serving 12 and a half years behind bars.
Kristopher Rikken