California author Helen Zia will help former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, targeted in what originally was an espionage investigation, tell his story in a first-person book.
Stacy Cohen, a spokeswoman for the Lee family, said Friday they were “extremely happy’’ with the choice of Zia by the publishing firm Hyperion, a branch of ABC Inc.
The Lees know Zia, who followed the case from the start and flew to Albuquerque several times for hearings.
“I really do feel very connected to this story,’’ Zia said. “I feel very strongly that Dr. Lee has a very important story to tell. All Americans and our nation should be concerned about what happened to him.’’
Lee, a Taiwanese-born U.S. citizen, was arrested on Dec. 10, 1999. He was never charged with espionage, but rather faced 59 counts of downloading restricted nuclear weapons information.
He spent nine months in solitary confinement at the Santa Fe County jail and was denied bail three times before pleading guilty to one count of downloading restricted data to an unsecured tape. Lee, 60, was sentenced to time served and released Sept. 13.
His prosecution brought stinging criticism and allegations he was singled out because of his race. He still has pending a civil lawsuit alleging his privacy was violated by a government smear campaign.