Edmond Pope, the former Penn State employee arrested in Russia on espionage charges three years ago, spoke yesterday about the 253 days he spent in a Russian prison.

Pope, a State College resident and former consultant who worked with Penn State's Applied Research Laboratory, talked about the book he wrote describing the experience, Torpedoed.

The talk was part of Schlow Memorial Library's annual Friends of Schlow meeting at the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St.

Much of the information surrounding his arrest and detention in Russia is still unknown, Pope said.

There was an intelligence operation working in Russia at the time, but he said he still does not understand what happened to him and why.

Russian secret police arrested him in Moscow and charged him with espionage. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to 20 years, but he was eventually pardoned by President Vladimir Putin.

The guards in the prison made it obvious throughout Pope's trial that the Russian government was aware he was actually not involved in espionage, he said.

"I held out hope to the last minute that the truth would get out and the ridiculous charges against me would be dropped," Pope said.

Even two and a half years after his release and return home, it's still difficult to deal with what happened, Pope said.

"I'll never forgive them for what they did to me and my family," he said.

During his talk, Pope told many anecdotes, including some about one of his cellmates, a former Russian national rugby player named Sergei.

Sergei was constantly playing tricks on the Russian guards and would sing "God Bless America" at the top of his lungs while in his cell, Pope said.

Pope said the prison's library played an important role in keeping him going during his imprisonment.

He said he was constantly reading and writing while in prison.

"Just in staying alive, reading and writing meant a great deal to me -- it helped me to keep my mind off of where I was," Pope said.

Pope is now working on promoting his book, teaching courses on counterintelligence to members of the U.S. government traveling to foreign countries and running a technological consulting firm he recently started with a friend.

"I like to keep busy -- it's my personality. If I'm not busy, I get into trouble," Pope said.

The annual Friends of Schlow meeting features a different speaker every year, Elizabeth Allen, director of the library, said.

"[The library] likes to highlight local people who have had interesting experiences, and Pope has certainly had some interesting experiences," Allen added.

After the meeting, Pope sold copies of his book.

Some of the profits were donated to construction of a new library, Amy Neil, library spokeswoman, said.