Witness tells of officer’s carelessness

A senior U.S. Army officer accused of aiding the enemy when he oversaw detainees at an American-run prison in Baghdad stashed huge amounts of “extremely sensitive” topsecret material in his living quarters that could have devastated the United States’ mission in Iraq if it had been leaked, an investigator testified Tuesday.

Another investigator in the case against Lt. Col. William H. Steele said that during an interview, the officer admitted that he empathized with the prisoners he oversaw, who included ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime, and that he had lent them his cellular phone to make private calls.

The testimony came on the second and final day of an Article 32 inquiry, the military equivalent of a criminal court preliminary hearing. The officer hearing the case, Col. Elizabeth Fleming, must decide whether to recommend a court-martial for Steele, 51, of Virginia, on nine charges, including aiding the enemy, holding classified material, conduct unbecoming an officer, failing to obey an order and failing to properly oversee the expenditure of government funds. The decision could take days.

An Army reservist, Steele oversaw the Camp Cropper detention facility from October 2005 through October 2006 as commander of the 451st Military Police Detachment. He could face either life imprisonment or execution if convicted of the charge of aiding the enemy, the first time that accusation has been leveled against a member of the U.S. military in Iraq.

Cigars for Hussein

Prosecutors produced witnesses who said Steele approved buying Cuban cigars for Hussein, along with hair dye and new clothes. However, Army Brig. Gen. Kevin McBride of the 43rd Military Police Brigade of Rhode Island, who oversaw Iraq’s detention facilities while Steele was running Camp Cropper, said purchases of cigars for the deposed dictator had been approved before either he or Steele assumed their commands.

“That was a situation that was in place when we arrived, and it continued when we left,” McBride testified.

Other witnesses said officials tried to make high-level detainees comfortable and show their families that they were being treated humanely, and that some inmates received special perks because of their lengthy imprisonments.

Prosecutors called 13 witnesses during the two-day hearing, including nine Tuesday. Most of those questioned Tuesday were in the United States and were interviewed by phone. They included several military special agents who took part in the investigation of Steele. The most explosive testimony came from the final witness, Special Agent Thomas Barnes of the Army’s procurement fraud unit. Barnes led the team that scoured Steele’s work tent and living quarters Feb. 22.

By then, Steele had moved from his position at Camp Cropper to the 89th Military Police Brigade at Camp Victory, also in Baghdad.

In the trailer where Steele lived, Barnes said, the search team found a briefcase stuffed with classified documents. “I was shocked at the material we found,” Barnes said. “I’d never seen that amount of classified material not properly stored, not properly labeled and not properly protected.”

Sensitive material

He described its contents as “extremely sensitive.” “I believe if those documents were compromised, it could have been devastating,” Barnes added.

Barnes also said that more than 50 computer compact discs hand-marked as “unclassified” were in the trailer.

One of the counts against Steele alleges that he improperly marked classified information. On Monday, witnesses testified to seeing Steele pass CDs to the daughter of a high-level detainee with whom he is accused of having an improper relationship.

Much of the case is a mystery because some evidence and testimony at the hearing were classified and not open to the public. Prosecutors have not indicated what the CDs allegedly hold nor given details of the 18,000 classified documents Steele is accused of storing improperly. They also have not elaborated on the sort of relationship he is alleged to have had with two women: the detainee’s daughter and an interpreter.

These alleged relationships led to the charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.

One thing prosecutors did confirm Tuesday was that they were aware Steele had been accused of criminal wrongdoing in the past. In 1993, prosecutors in Florida alleged that Steele kept food from his 11-year-old stepson and struck him for failing to do chores and homework. He faced felony charges of aggravated child abuse and resisting a law enforcement officer, but the charges were dropped in exchange for Steele allowing court protection for the boy, public records show.

Public records also indicate that Steele was arrested in Virginia in 2003 on a misdemeanor charge of threatening bodily harm, which ended with a guilty verdict.

The prosecution team said it was aware that Steele had been accused of crimes previously. Military officials in Baghdad said they were not authorized to discuss vetting procedures used for determining who could be put in charge of high-level prisoners.

According to the latest witnesses’ accounts, Steele either was a dedicated officer who earned respect from detainees as well as inspectors from the International Committee of the Red Cross, or a bungling commander who broke the rules without realizing that what he had done could end his career.

A February interview

Special Agent John Nocella, a counterintelligence officer who took part in the investigation of Steele, said he interviewed the Army officer Feb. 22. Steele declined an offer to have an attorney present, Nocella told Capt. Michael A. Rizzotti, one of the four prosecutors.

Rizzotti asked whether Steele admitted allowing high-level detainees to use his personal cellphone when all the prison’s official phones for detainees’ calls were in use. “That’s correct,” Nocella replied.

Rizzotti asked whether Steele had told Nocella that because the detainees had not been convicted of a crime, “they should be allowed as much privacy as possible.”

“That’s correct. He did not monitor these calls,” Nocella said.

Asked whether Steele described himself as a “humanitarian” with “empathy toward high-value detainees” and a desire “to make their lives better,” Nocella said, “Yes, he did.”

Nocella said Steele came back later, apparently regretful of his statements after having spoken to a lawyer. He acknowledged that what he had done was wrong and could cost him his job, Nocella said. “Did he say, ‘I am guilty of what they suspect me of’? “ Rizzotti asked. “Yes, he did,” Nocella replied.

Under questioning from the defense, Nocella said he did not record his initial conversation with Steele and that the only people Steele identified as having used his cellphone were three juvenile detainees. Nocella said as far as he knew, the juveniles phoned their families.

Another witness testified that it was not unusual for juveniles to be among those held at Camp Cropper.

Earlier, Army Maj. Gen. John D. Gardner, who was deputy commanding general for detainee operations when Steele oversaw Camp Cropper, said that based on what he knew at the time, Steele’s performance was worthy of a top job evaluation. Gardner told Capt. Yolanda McCray, one of the defense attorneys, that Steele received “positive comments” from detainees as well as from Red Cross officials who came to Camp Cropper to check detainee conditions.

Gardner also acknowledged that he had reprimanded Steele at least once, for allegedly intimidating tower guards with his service pistol.

susman@latimes.com