Oregon Public Broadcasting

A Eugene man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges related to his father's work as a CIA agent and convicted spy. KLCC's Angela Kellner reports.

25-year-old Nathaniel Nicholson of Eugene admitted to traveling to countries including Mexico and Cyprus.

There he says he met with his father's former handlers and accepted money from them.

The money was allegedly the proceeds from his father's past espionage activities.

Nicholson is charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He faces up to 25-years in prison when he is sentenced in January.

His father, Harold Nicholson, an Oregon native, was the CIA's top instructor in spy tradecraft when he sold information to the Russians.

He was convicted of espionage in 1997 and is serving a 23-year sentence at the federal prison in Sheridan.

According to the Department of Justice, Harold Nicholson is one of the highest-ranking CIA officials ever convicted of espionage.