A Coast Guard veteran and suspected Russian spy who served for 22 years under an assumed identity stolen from a dead baby wants his creditors to know that while he may be in jail awaiting trial, he’s not a deadbeat.
Walter Glenn Primrose, 67, sent a letter, obtained by The Daily Beast, from a Honolulu federal lockup to the court clerk overseeing his case, complaining that the FBI has prevented an associate from paying his bills for him during his detention.
“This is the third person listed on a simple Power of Attorney who has been ‘interviewed’ by the FBI and chased away,” Primrose wrote, noting that if his bills are left to “fallow or accumulate” prior to potentially getting hit with “insurmountable fees or fines from the upcoming proceeding,” he won’t be able to pay them off. “As may be confirmed with the Prosecutor’s Office, until my incarceration, I was most prompt and diligent with bills and finances.”
In the handwritten letter, which is dated Feb. 12 and was filed Feb. 17, Primrose, who held a secret-level security clearance until his arrest last year, says it is not his intention to “vex” the court, arguing that his issue is “not a frivolous matter.”
An FBI agent recently informed the latest of Primrose’s appointed representatives that it was “illegal” to pay bills for him, the letter continues. However, Primrose contends, “I know of no situation where it is illegal for someone to pay bills for another.”
“Regrettably, 1-800 calls are not allowed at FDC Honolulu, causing consternation to contact businesses,” Primrose’s letter concludes. “I am presently seeking direct lines so that I may personally speak with creditors, although this has not worked well in the past. I would like to reassure my creditors that I have every intention of making good on my debts.”
Prosecutors say Primrose has masqueraded since 1987 as Bobby Edward Fort, who was born in July 1967 and died that October from asphyxia. Primrose’s wife, Gwynn Darle Morrison, lived as another deceased infant, Julie Lyn Montague, who also died before her first birthday. In 1988, Primrose and Morrison re-married each other as Fort and Morrison, and in 1994, Primrose joined the Coast Guard. In reality, he was 39 and too old to enlist. But as Bobby Fort, he was just 27. Morrison spent the next two decades as Fort, a Coast Guardsman, retiring as an avionics technician in 2016. He then took a cleared position with a defense contractor at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii.
During a search of the couple’s Kapolei home, federal agents found photos of the two wearing what appeared to be KGB uniforms, charging documents in the case state. (A lawyer for Morrison claimed the pair were just joking around.)
At an August 2022 initial court hearing, Primrose stated his name as “Walter Glenn Primrose,” his birth name. Morrison, on the other hand, continued to insist her real name was Julie Lyn Montague.
In his latest letter to the court, Primrose signed it: Bobby E. Fort, A.K.A. Walter Glenn Primrose.
Primrose and Morrison are each charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., making a false statement in a passport application, and aggravated identity theft. Primrose’s lawyer, Walter Rodby, did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment. Their trial is scheduled to begin on May 22.
If convicted, Primrose and Morrison face a maximum total of 17 years in prison.