Breckinridge L. Willcox, 62; prosecutor won 2 major Soviet spy cases
Breckinridge L. Willcox, 62, who as Maryland’s top federal prosecutor from 1986 to 1991 had two major espionage convictions, died Nov. 16 of cancer in Santa Paula, in Ventura County.
In 1986, President Reagan nominated Willcox, a former chief of the Justice Department’s government fraud branch, to be U.S. attorney for Maryland.
Soon after taking office, he had two major Soviet espionage convictions: that of Ronald Pelton, a former National Security Agency communications expert, and a Navy spy ring led by John Walker. Both men received life sentences.
In the late 1980s, Willcox’s investigations led to the conviction of then-Maryland state Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell III and his brother, state Sen. Michael B. Mitchell, as part of the Wedtech defense contracting scandal.
Born in La Jolla, Willcox was raised in Chevy Chase, Md. After graduating from Yale University and Duke University Law School, he spent three years in the Marine Corps as a judge advocate general.
He joined the U.S. Justice Department in 1975 and prosecuted fraud cases stemming from defense contracts.
From 1984 to 1986, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of McKenna, Conner & Cuneo and established its white-collar defense practice.
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