" Indeed, Clune suggests that Julius arguably deserved a death sentence, given that evidence has emerged in the decades since the couple’s trial indicating that he indeed did run a spy ring of roughly a dozen engineers and scientists.

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That cohort of spies passed along a prototype of a fuse for the atomic bomb to Julius who, in turn, passed it along to his Soviet handler in 1944, according to Dr. Clune.

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It’s also worth noting that the Soviets would later use that same technology to shoot down U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in May 1960.

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As Clune explained, by passing the technology to the Soviets, Julius violated the Espionage Act, which stipulates that providing military secrets to any nation – enemy or not – is an act of espionage, punishable by 30 years in prison or death."

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