THE NATION - News from June 11, 2009

A federal judge ordered a former State Department employee and his wife held without bond, saying there appeared to be insurmountable evidence they had spied for Cuba. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola ruled that Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, would remain in custody pending trial.

Facciola said the pair might try to flee to Cuba, which would have a powerful motivation to help them: to reward their alleged 30 years of service, to encourage other Cuban agents working in the U.S., and to prevent the couple from cooperating with U.S. authorities. If convicted on all charges, they could face 17 years in prison.