United States v. Rita Gluzman: 1997

The Gluzmans had been married for 27 years. Rita had gained some notoriety many years before as part of the Jewish exodus from the Soviet Union. Although she had been able to leave the country, her husband had not been granted an exit visa. She had emigrated first to Israel, and then to the United States, where she sought help to get her husband out. In 1971, she had asked for support from U.S. ambassador to the UN, George H.W. Bush, in her efforts to help her husband emigrate from Russia. She spoke at meetings of the United Jewish Appeal and the American Conference for Soviet Jews, and conducted a personal hunger strike.

Eventually, Yakov was granted an exit visa to emigrate to Israel. The couple then moved to the United States, where Yakov Gluzman continued his work in molecular biology, rising to a position as senior director of molecular research at Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, Rockland County, New York. Gluzman, a prominent molecular biologist and cancer researcher, had also established the profitable computer firm ECI Technologies, in which he and his wife shared ownership.

Their marriage had become more and more difficult in the years before his death. Yakov claimed that his wife was running the electronics firm into the ground, spending more than $11,000 a month on herself. For her part, she suspected her husband maintained a mistress in Israel. Gluzman filed for divorce four months prior to his death, alleging his wife had become abusive and was spending too much money. Federal authorities later alleged that Rita had gone to Israel to obtain photos of her husband with another woman and had used the photos and illegal telephone taps to try to blackmail him.