CONFIRMED: Pollard to be Released From Prison
After serving an unprecedented 30 years in jail, Jonathan Pollard will go free in November.
Jonathan Pollard, who has been in prison for 30 years for spying for Israel, has been granted parole following a unanimous vote by a federal parole panel.
The release date was set for November, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing Pollard’s attorneys. The announcement also said that the vote was not related to the Iran nuclear deal, according to the newspaper.
Israel’s Channel 2 reported Tuesday evening that the planned release date is Friday, Nov. 20. Pollard, who was given a life sentence in 1987, was eligible for parole on Nov. 21, but will be released a day early, before Shabbat.
The U.S. government does not oppose the release, Pollard’s attorneys told the Journal.
Pollard was arrested in 1985 while working as a civilian U.S. Navy analyst. His only application for parole, filed last year, failed.
Pollard’s lawyers said, according to the announcement, that under the terms of his parole, Pollard must remain in the United States for five years, according to the Journal. They said that they have asked President Barack Obama to use his clemency power to allow Pollard to move to Israel immediately after his release.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, as he left a House of Representatives hearing on the Iran deal, that Pollard’s parole is not related to the agreement.
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