Lawyers: Convicted spy Pollard to be paroled in November

Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard has been granted parole and will be released in November, his lawyer Eliot Lauer confirmed Tuesday to CBS News’ Paula Reid. Obama administration officials, however, said Pollard is a criminal justice issue, not a diplomatic one.

Earlier, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked tweeted that Pollard will be released on November 20.

Israel has long placed a premium on freeing Pollard, but his name still sparks ire in U.S. intelligence circles.

He was arrested as he tried unsuccessfully to gain asylum in Israel’s Washington embassy. From June 1984 through November 1985, he removed troves of highly classified American intelligence from his office and served it up to Israeli operatives.

She pointed out that under the sentencing structure in 1987, a sentence of life in prison meant 30 years.

Pollard has battled health problems in recent years.

Under federal guidelines at the time of Pollard’s case, a person with a life sentence is eligible for mandatory parole after 30 years unless the Parole Commission “determines that he has seriously or frequently violated institution rules or that there is a reasonable probability that he will commit any Federal, State, or local crime”. “But under the law in which he was sentenced and the laws of our country which we abide, [there is] not really a recommendation needed from us”.

Bringing up Pollard is itself a calculated distraction from the Iran deal that’s working as intended by creating tension with Israel. “And if they were able to pull that off I would be quite impressed”.