Espionage Charge Against Powers

Date: July 8, 1960 • Location: Moscow, Russia

Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.

Francis Gary Powers was an American pilot who served as a United States Air Force officer and a CIA employee. Powers is best known for his involvement in the 1960 U-2 incident, when he was shot down while flying a secret CIA spying mission over the Soviet Union. Powers survived, but was captured and sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison for espionage. He served 21 months of his sentence before being released in a prisoner swap in 1962.