2 JAPANESE HELD ON SPY CHARGE
By Associated Press.
LOS ANGELES, Tuesday, June 10.--Al D. Blake, 50-year-old former yeoman in the United States Navy, is charged with two Japanese with conspiracy in an asserted espionage plot against the United States but a federal official called him a hero today.
Blake, said an investigator in the United States District Attorney's office, obtained "first-hand, on-the-ground" information which led to the arrests.
United States Attorney William Fleet Palmer filed charges of "conspiracy to obtain national defense information to be used for the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign power"
Itaru Tatibana, 39, a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Japanese Navy, registered as a language student at University of Southern California.
Toraichi Kono, 56, for many years major-domo in the home of Charles Chaplin, screen comedian, and known as the most prominent Japanese in Hollywood.
Tatibana was released under $50,000 bail provided by Japanese Consul General Kenji Nakauchi after unsuccessful efforts to have the amount reduced. Kono, unable to post $25,000 bond, remained in jail. They were arrested yesterday.
"We have a good case against the Japanese and the investigaion [investigation] is not yet over," said Palmer. He said Blake was held in technical cutody [custody], but did not elaborate.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and $10,000 fine. Palmer said he would ask the federal grand jury today for an indictment directly charging espionage, which carries a maximum twenty-year penalty.