Man Jailed for Iran Arms Sale Ordered Freed
A man imprisoned for selling arms to Iran was set free today on the orders of a federal judge who questioned the “fair play” of holding him in light of the Iran- contra scandal.
U.S. District Judge Robert Vining ordered Lemuel Stevens freed for four months to give attorneys time to uncover some of the same information being sought by the congressional committees investigating the Reagan Administration sales of arms to Iran and diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan rebels.
“Such information could be highly material, since a sentencing judge could well determine that basic notions of justice and fair play were being undermined by the government’s prosecuting an individual for doing acts it publicly abhorred while secretly condoning,” Vining said.
Stevens, president of International Services and Logistics, was sentenced to three years in prison in September, 1985, when he admitted conspiring to ship military equipment to Chile and Iran in 1984.
He was released today from a federal camp in Big Springs, Tex., a prison spokeswoman said.
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