9th Person Is Charged in Navy Probe

Federal agents arrested a Navy employee in Norfolk, Va., Thursday and charged her with assisting the San Diego-based ring accused of smuggling stolen F-14 fighter jet parts to Iran.

A federal court in Norfolk arraigned Virginia Wheeler, 39, on one count of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, according to a statement released by U.S. Atty. Peter Nunez in San Diego. Wheeler, an employee of the Naval Air Rework Facility in Norfolk, is accused of using her post to penetrate Navy security.

Her ex-husband, Daniel Wheeler, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three conspiracy-related counts. As a production controller at the rework facility, he stole more than $500,000 worth of combat aircraft parts and sold much of it to the head of the smuggling ring, alleged to be Franklin P. Augustin of National City.

Virginia Wheeler is the ninth person charged in connection with the conspiracy that prosecutors say transferred millions of dollars worth of sophisticated weaponry to Iran between early 1981 and July.

She pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and was held in lieu of $100,000 bond.

Daniel Wheeler and Pedro M. Quito, a civilian warehouse worker at North Island Naval Air Station who also has pleaded guilty to conspiracy-related charges, both have agreed to cooperate with the government in its continuing investigation. Nunez did not rule out further arrests in the case.