You can talk about Russian espionage and the Trump White House all you want, but one of the biggest spy cases in American history involved a Davis resident.

Yes indeed, it seems there’s always a local angle.

This from the New York Times on July 25, 1986, which notes “A federal jury today convicted a former Navy radioman, Jerry A. Whitworth, of espionage for his participation in a Soviet spy ring that the government has called the most damaging espionage conspiracy in decades.”

Read that one again: the most damaging espionage conspiracy in decades. Right here in our humble hometown of Davis, California.

“Mr. Whitworth retired from the Navy with the rank of chief petty officer in 1983. He was unemployed and living in a mobile home in Davis, Calif., with his wife, Brenda L. Reis, at the time of his arrest on June 3, 1985,” The Times story continued.

Reis was described as “a North Dakota farm girl” who happened to be studying for her Ph.D. in nutrition at UC Davis.

The mobile home in question was situated in Rancho Yolo, a charming East Davis neighborhood trapped between the Davis post office and the Davis Cemetery.

“The jury deliberated 52 hours over 10 days before returning guilty verdicts on seven counts of espionage and five counts of tax fraud,” The Times noted.

“Seated between his two defense attorneys, Mr. Whitworth, 46 years old, remained expressionless as the verdict was read. In the trial, which began March 24, the defense acknowledged that Mr. Whitworth, in exchange for $332,000, had stolen classified Navy cryptographic data and passed it on to John A. Walker, Jr., who has admitted heading a Soviet spy ring, and that he failed to report the money on his income tax returns.”

Yep, those Davis-based Russian spies always forget to report their ill-gotten gains to the IRS.

But remember that $332,000 figure. It will come up again.

Added The Times, “United States attorney Joseph P. Russoniello said of Mr. Walker and Mr. Whitworth, ‘In terms of their relative culpability, Whitworth is by far the most damaging.’ The government had produced mountains of evidence that was so compelling that the defense conceded that Jerry Whitworth was a spy and took the money.

“Mr. Whitworth faces a maximum penalty of seven life terms in prison on the espionage convictions, plus 17 years for tax fraud.”

Wow, seven life terms plus 17 years. Now that’s a sentence.

Whitworth eventually received a 365-year sentence and a $410,000 fine. The sentence was described as the harshest for spying since the death penalty was declared unconstitutional for espionage and other federal crimes in 1972. The judge actually lamented the fact he couldn’t sentence Whitworth to death.

According to Dan Morain’s piece in the Los Angeles Times, Judge John K. Vukasin called Whitworth “one of the most spectacular spies of this century.”

The LA Times story also noted that Whitworth was part of a spy operation described by a Soviet defector as the most important “in the KGB’s history.”

In other words, this was no small potatoes, two-bit spy gracing our community. No, Jerry Whitworth was the real deal.

Interestingly, not only is there a local connection for Davis here, there’s also a personal connection that my oldest daughter, Erin, all of 8 years old at the time, had with the Whitworth household.

In order to earn a little spending money and help dear old Dad pay the rent, Erin and her brother, Ted, split a Davis Enterprise paper route that included all of Rancho Yolo. In fact, it was exclusively in Rancho Yolo, where the residents were routinely kind to them when the kids showed up to toss newspapers from their bicycles.

Ted and Erin split the route down the middle. And, it just so happens that the home of Jerry Whitworth and Brenda Reis was in Erin’s domain. Yes, one of the greatest and most spectacular spies in American history was a Davis Enterprise subscriber. You can talk about your Pulitzers, but how many newspapers can claim that distinction?

This was back in those dreadful days when paperboys and papergirls had to “collect” from their customers once a month. It was a chore Erin and Ted dreaded, especially if a customer was behind on his payments.

Despite apparently having $332,000 stuffed under his mattress, Whitworth was two months behind when he was arrested.

The news of Whitworth’s arrest alarmed little Erin, who climbed on her bicycle with the intention of heading over to Rancho Yolo to see if maybe Brenda Reis was still home.

“I think maybe you shouldn’t go over there right now, sweetheart.”

“But they owe me $6.”

I finally decided I would drive her to Rancho Yolo. When we got there, Erin, without hesitation, popped out of the car and knocked firmly on Jerry Whitworth’s front door.

There was no answer, so she left a note, with the amount owed and her home address. She has yet to be paid.

At his sentencing, Whitworth said he was “very, very sorry,” clearly in reference to the $6 he still owes my daughter.

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected] Read Bob’s Tuesday column online at www.davisenterprise.com. His Thursday online column now moves to Wednesday’s sports section.