A couple of lessons from the 1990 news report below. First, the
violation of law by high government officials illegally selling
shoulder fired missiles and other arms to Iran, and using the
illegal profits to fund the illegal state-supported terrorism
against Nicaragua, is not punished, as usual (Poindexter won on
appeal based on his claim that he wouldn't have been convicted
except for testimony given to congress under a grant of
immunity). Second, you need not face any public accountability
and arms for hostages, and profits for terrorism in Nicaragua
need not be a barrier, in fact it is a qualification, for
building a big brother system to surveil US citizens (except of
course those breaking the law at the behest of the government
itself).
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- John Poindexter, one of President Ronald
Reagan's highest-ranking aides and the last of the original Iran-
Contra defendants, was the first person sentenced to prison in
the arms-for-hostages scandal.
Poindexter, 53, who was Reagan's national security adviser, was
sentenced to six months in jail Monday for masterminding the
effort to cover up White House involvement in the Iran-Contra
affair.
U.S. District Judge Harold Greene said Poindexter should be
imprisoned because he was ``the decision-making head of the Iran-
Contra operation'' in the White House.
Greene sentenced Poindexter to six months in prison on each of
five felony counts, but allowed the sentences to run
concurrently. Because of Poindexter's huge legal fees, the judge
did not impose a fine.
But the retired Navy rear admiral was required to pay a standard
$50 court assessment for each of the five counts.
Poindexter was convicted April 7 of conspiring to deceive
Congress, making false statements to lawmakers and obstructing
congressional inquiries into the Iran-Contra scandal.
Although Poindexter is the last of the original Iran-Contra
defendants, a special prosecutor is still investigating the case
and new indictments are still possible.
What Poindexter did when he lied to Congress was ``not a part of
the normal political process,'' said Greene.
The judge said Poindexter, Lt. Col. Oliver North and others in
Reagan's White House tried to ``nullify'' a decision by Congress
to cut off aid to the rebel Nicaraguan Contras.
Congress is elected by the American people, Greene said, and its
decisions cannot be ``nullified by appointed officials.''
Furthermore, he said, Poindexter and North ``engaged in the
destruction of evidence on a large scale.''
Poindexter headed the White House effort to subvert Congress,
Greene said, and a ``meaningful'' penalty was necessary to deter
future activity by public officials.
Poindexter stood stiffly as Greene imposed the sentence. But he
smiled at his chief lawyer, Richard Beckler, who said he would
appeal.
Poindexter was accompanied by his wife, Linda, an Episcopal
priest who wore her clerical collar, and his large legal team.
He remained free, pending his appeal.
Beckler had asked Greene not to send Poindexter to prison,
saying ``he has served his country for 33 years'' and made no
personal profit from his actions in the Iran-Contra scandal.
``The world is a somewhat different world today than it was when
John Poindexter entered the White House,'' Beckler said. ``The
world is safer,'' terrorism is on the decline and there are free
elections in Eastern Europe, Beckler said.
Before imposing the prison sentence, Greene asked Poindexter if
he wanted to speak. Poindexter stood up and said softly, ``Your
honor, I don't have any comment.''
Chief prosecutor Dan Webb asked Greene to put Poindexter behind
bars, saying he and ``a very misguided and confused Marine
lieutenant colonel'' -- North -- ``operated a private war in the
nation of Nicaragua.''
They kept that war hidden from Congress, Webb said, through a
deliberate campaign of lies, deception and obstruction.
Webb also noted that Poindexter ``destroyed the single most
important document in the case'' -- a document signed by Ronald
Reagan authorizing a direct arms-for-hostages deal with Iran in
an effort to free Americans held in Lebanon.
Although Poindexter did not testify during his trial, he told
Congress in nationally televised testimony during the summer of
1987 that he never told Reagan about the subsequent diversion of
Iran arms sale profits to assist the Contras. Congress had
banned such Contra aid.
Poindexter said he destroyed the diversion document because it
would cause grave political damage to Reagan.
Webb later told reporters: ``We think the sentence imposed today
by Judge Greene is a fair and proper sentence.''
Poindexter was the head of his class at the Naval Academy and
had a brilliant Navy career until the Iran-Contra scandal
erupted in November
1986. He faced a maximum possible sentence of 25 years in prison
and
$1.25 million in fines.
Greene said he would have imposed a harsher sentence -- 21 to 27
months
