American Held in Nicaragua Meets U.S. Congressmen

Four U.S. congressmen met Wednesday with Sam Nesley Hall, an American accused of spying by the Sandinista government, and they said he told them he was eating well and exercising.

Hall, 49, from Dayton, Ohio, was arrested Dec. 12 in a restricted area near the Punta Huete air force base, 13 miles northeast of Managua. Officials said they found maps of the base and other military installations in his possession.

Reps. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), Daniel Coats (R-Ind.), J. Alex McMillan (R-N. C.) and Guy V. Molinari (R-N.Y.) arrived Monday on a fact-finding trip, and were given permission Wednesday to meet with Hall at a state security building used for visits with prisoners.

“We took him a message from his family, expressing the hope that he is well and saying that they are praying for him,” Wolf told reporters after the half-hour meeting.

“Hall asked us to ask his family to send him a Bible and a toothbrush, along with other personal cleaning items,” he said.

No formal charges have been filed against Hall, brother of Rep. Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio).

Hall has said he belonged to a private counterterrorist group and that he knew of no ties between it and the CIA.