Andrew Daulton Lee

Andrew Daulton Lee (January 3, 1952) is a former drug dealer who was convicted of espionage for his involvement in the spying activities of his childhood friend, Christopher Boyce.[1]

Lee was the adopted eldest son of Dr. Daulton Lee, a wealthy California physician. His lifelong friendship with Boyce led him into espionage activities after Boyce, a defense industry employee with the large US contractor, TRW (headquartered in the Los Angeles community of Redondo Beach), began stealing classified documents detailing how to decrypt secure US government message traffic and detailed specifications of the latest US spy satellites with the intention of delivering them to agents of the Soviet Union. Boyce lured Lee into the espionage by telling him the CIA was spying on Australia, a defense that Boyce falsely maintained for years. With Boyce's stolen documents, Lee traveled to Mexico City, where he delivered them to Soviet embassy officials at Boyce’s direction. Lee often also would use these trips as an opportunity to engage in drug deals.

Lee and Boyce made an agreement to evenly split the profits from the espionage ring. Boyce had used his share mainly for his personal use. Lee used his split of the profits to further his drug business, purchasing more expensive drugs, such as heroin, and being able to gain tremendous profits by selling the expensive, hard-to-obtain drugs in the United States. Boyce maintained that he continued with the espionage activity because Lee threatened and blackmailed him. He alleged that Lee made copies of the stolen documents with the intention of selling them to the Chinese, but this was false testimony by Boyce in an effort to lighten his own responsibility and ultimate obtain a lighter sentence.

In January 1977, Lee (with top secret microfilm in his possession) was arrested by Mexican police in front of the Soviet embassy in Mexico City for littering.[2] Under interrogation and torture, he confessed to espionage. Contrary to Boyce’s story, Lee never blackmailed Boyce nor did he implicate Boyce in the espionage. He did not testify against Boyce. Lee was returned to the United States, where he was convicted of espionage. He was sentenced to life in prison and moved to the federal penitentiary in Lompoc, California. Boyce received a sentence of 40 years. Lee's heavier sentence for the same offense was likely due to his prior criminal record and admitted drug trafficking. When Boyce escaped from prison in 1980, Lee was immediately remanded to another facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. Boyce approached Lee 24 hours before the escape and asked Lee to participate. Lee responded: “I came in the front door, I’m going out the same way.”

Lee was portrayed by actor Sean Penn in director John Schlesinger's 1985 movie The Falcon and the Snowman, based on the book of the same name by Robert Lindsey. Lee's drug-dealing earned him the nickname "The Snowman," while Boyce's interest in falconry won him his own sobriquet. Boyce was played in the film by actor Timothy Hutton.

For over 40 years, Lee has been portrayed as the “evil influence” that caused Boyce to engage in the espionage and document thefts. These portrayals started with the Robert Lindsey book “The Falcon and The Snowman” and continued on to the portrayal in the movie of the same name. Lee was never interviewed by Lindsey and the portrayal of Lee’s character came directly from Boyce. Cait Mills Boyce, in writing about Lee in “American Sons: The Untold Story of The Falcon and The Snowman”attempted to set the record straight and portrayed Lee with respect and kindness.

Lee was released on parole in 1998. Kathleen Mills (Boyce), an activist who had worked towards earning Lee's parole, turned her attention towards the release of Boyce following Lee's freedom and eventually married Boyce. After his release, Lee briefly worked for Sean Penn as Penn's personal assistant.[3][4]