Hall Apologizes to Nicaraguans, Returns to U.S.

American adventurer Sam Nesley Hall returned to the United States on Wednesday after apologizing here for “embarrassment” he may have caused Nicaraguans.

Hall, 49, the brother of Rep. Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio), said he was treated well during the 47 days he spent in jail on espionage charges. Hall appeared to be fit, although his attorney said he was “tired and nervous.”

Hall was flown by way of Costa Rica to Miami, where his brother greeted him with a hug at the Miami airport. He was later taken to the Miami Veterans Administration Hospital for tests, news services reported.

The Sandinista government said it dropped charges and released Hall because he is mentally unstable and because Nicaragua does not have an adequate institution to treat him. On his way to the airplane Wednesday morning, Hall was asked about the comments regarding his mental state. He just looked over his shoulder and grinned.

Treated Well in Prison

Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry officials had said Tuesday that Hall was “inclined to carry out acts that could end his own life,” but Hall said Wednesday that he had not tried to hurt himself in any way while in jail.

“I want to say one thing to the Nicaraguan people,” Hall said before departing. “I am sorry that I have brought some embarrassment. I have been treated very well. The prison authorities were terrific, and I was treated like a human being with a lot of dignity.”

He declined to answer questions about what he had been doing in Nicaragua and was quickly escorted to an Aeronica flight that had been held for his late arrival at the airport.

Hall, a self-described counterterrorist, was arrested Dec. 12 outside the Punta Huete military air base 30 miles northeast of Managua. According to the government, he was concealing maps of the base and other Nicaraguan installations in his sock.

After his capture, Hall said in press interviews that he was in Nicaragua to gather intelligence for anti-Sandinista rebels, the contras. He said that in 1984 Pentagon officials had asked him to form a paramilitary “foreign legion,” of which he was the only remaining member.

Former Legislator

Hall is a former Ohio state representative and Olympic diving medalist. He had described himself as an anti-communist military adviser to the Miskito Indians fighting to oust the Sandinistas. His congressman brother has opposed U.S. aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.

Hall’s attorney, Gary Froelich, accompanied him on the flight to Costa Rica and on to Miami. Before the departure, Froelich said he had met with Hall Tuesday night and found him to be “very tired, very nervous and suffering from a lot of strain.”

Hall’s sudden release without charges took diplomats by surprise, but it was viewed as a wise political move.

“It makes good political sense,” said a Western diplomat who asked not to be identified. “Tony Hall is a congressman, and all of the congressmen who have come down here recently raised the Hall question.”

Hasenfus Freed Earlier

Referring to the expressed concern that Hall might harm himself while in jail, the diplomat said Nicaraguan officials had voiced the same fear when another American prisoner, Eugene Hasenfus, was in jail on a 30-year prison term for running guns to the contras.

“They talked to us about Hasenfus,” the diplomat said. “What would happen if he fell out of bed--would they be blamed? They decided to let (Hall) go sooner rather than later.”

Hasenfus, 45, of Marinette, Wis., was a cargo handler aboard a C-123 transport plane laden with arms that was shot down Oct. 5 in southern Nicaragua. Hasenfus’ later comments and documents aboard the plane provided the outlines of a clandestine American-run contra supply network operating out of El Salvador and Honduras.

Hasenfus was pardoned and released Dec. 17 into the custody of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) after spending more than 2 1/2 months in jail.