EUGENE, Ore. -- A 24-year-old Eugene man faces federal charges he traveled the globe to get money from Russian spies and disperse the money to family members at the direction of his father, a former CIA spy imprisoned in Oregon since 1997 for espionage.

The federal charges announced Thursday allege the son met with the father in prison on several occasion to obtain information with the intent to then meet with representatives of the Russian Federation.

“Today’s indictment alleges that an imprisoned spy recruited and trained his own 24-year-old son to travel the globe to collect on past spying debts and channel information to foreign agents," said Matthew G. Olsen, acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "These charges underscore the continuing threat posed by foreign intelligence services and should send a clear message to others who would consider selling out their country for money."

Betty Nicholson, who is Harold's mother and Nathaniel's grandmother, thinks the government is on a fishing expedition.

"There's nothing to it," she told KVAL News. "They're trying to see if they can't find more on him."

She said Nathaniel was a paratrooper in the Army and atteneded Lane Community College to study mechanical engineering. LCC confirmed Nathaniel had been enrolled there from winter 2005 until the present.

"He's a ready good kid," she said. "Really smart. He served time in the military."

And she doubted her son could get away with such a scheme.

"I don't know how he could be involved," she said. "All his mail is ready by the CIA. I don't know how he could possibly do anything. They search everyone coming and going."

The indictment alleges that the son then traveled to meet with representatives of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, Calif.; Mexico City, Mexico; Lima, Peru; and Cyprus, according to the Justice Department.

The indictment alleges the son then brought the money, paid by the Russian Federation for the father's past espionage activities, back to Oregon to disperse to family members at his father's direction.

The two were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Portland at 1:30 p.m.

Details from the indictment

The indictment says Harold Nicholson, who pleaded guilty in 1997 after being paid $300,000 to pass secrets to the Russians, wanted to receive additional payments for his work, and used his son as a go-between.

Officials charged that Nathaniel Nicholson collected another $35,593 in a series of recent trips to meet Russians in San Francisco, Mexico City, Lima, and even a T.G.I. Friday's restaurant in Cyprus in December.

On each return trip to the United States, the messenger son would declare less than $10,000 in cash to avoid federal law requiring him to disclose the source of the money, authorities said.

Nathaniel Nicholson, who lives in Eugene, Ore., had been under surveillance for more than a year, according to court records. He was arrested Thursday morning in Oregon and he and his father were scheduled to appear in court later in the day, officials said.

Harold Nicholson is currently serving a 23-year prison term in Sheridan after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit espionage. As a trainer of CIA personnel, authorities say he gave the Russians the identities of the young CIA recruits he was training, and the identities of other high-level CIA officers.

According to the new indictment, the Russians still thought Harold Nicholson might be able to give them valuable information — specifically, how he had been discovered and how much the investigators had learned about Russian spying.

The father told his son he was due a "pension" for his past work for the Russians, and even dropped hints that he would like to live in Russia when he was freed. To that end, investigators say, he once relayed his age, height, weight, and other relevant personal data that would be required for a Russian visa.