Spy granted day parole
A former Canadian naval intelligence officer convicted of spying for Russia has been granted day parole and could be living in a halfway house this fall, the Parole Board of Canada said Wednesday.
Former junior navy officer Jeffrey Delisle was given day parole on Tuesday following a three-hour hearing at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
He had been sentenced in 2013 to 20 years in prison.
Delisle started selling Western military secrets to Russia in 2007 but wasn’t caught until 2011 when the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation tipped off the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
He pleaded guilty to regularly passing classified western intelligence to Russia in exchange for cash. The judge presiding over the case said at the time that he would serve 18 years and five months behind bars because of time served.
A parole board spokeswoman said two board members presided over Tuesday’s hearing, determining that he was not likely to reoffend.
“All decisions are based on risk so if the parole board members feel that an offender can be released and not be a threat to society and won’t reoffend while on parole, then they do grant parole,’’ she said.
The parole is for a period of up to six months and takes effect in September, but that it may begin later depending on bed availability at the unnamed facility.
The spokeswoman, who didn’t want her name used, said Delisle has to live at the halfway house and is under direct supervision by a parole officer. He will have to report back to the halfway house every night, she said.
She would not reveal the location of the halfway house.
Provincial court Judge Patrick Curran said at sentencing that Delisle “coldly and rationally’’ offered his services to Russia, who valued his work.