Nofziger Guilty in Lobby Case : Jury Finds Reagan Campaign Aide Contacted Ex-Associates Illegally

Ex-White House aide Lyn Nofziger, the political operator who helped Ronald Reagan capture the presidency, was convicted today of illegal lobbying for the scandal-torn Wedtech Corp. and two other clients.

The eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated just 6 1/2 hours before finding Nofziger guilty of three of the four counts of illegal lobbying against him.

Nofziger, sporting his trademark Mickey Mouse tie, kept his head bowed, displaying little emotion as the court clerk read the verdict. The eyes of Nofziger’s wife, Bonnie, glazed over with tears as she sat quietly in the first row of the courtroom with their two daughters.

Nofziger faces a six-year prison sentence and a $30,000 fine for the charges. His lawyers said they will appeal the decision.

Insists on Innocence

Nofziger is the first person prosecuted for violating a key provision of the Ethics in Government Act, which bars former officials from contacting their old colleagues for a year about areas of “direct and substantial interest.”

Outside U.S. District Court, Nofziger professed his innocence, just as he did throughout the monthlong trial and the yearlong investigation that preceded it.

“I feel I’m innocent. I don’t think I did anything wrong,” he said. “It’s a lousy law. All men are not equal under the law.”

Nofziger’s trial came on the heels of the December perjury conviction of another White House aide, Michael K. Deaver, who was convicted of lying to Congress and a grand jury about his lobbying activities.

‘Resents Any Implication’

Nofziger bristled at the notion that the two convictions made any sort of a statement about the Reagan Administration, saying: “I don’t think this affects the ethical standards of this Administration. Frankly, I kind of resent any implication that it does.”

Nofziger left the White House in January, 1982, as President Reagan’s political director to open a consulting business with fellow Californian Mark Bragg, who was found innocent by the same jury today on one count of aiding and abetting.

Asked at the White House for comment, presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater replied: “No comment. . . . We won’t have any comment.”

The charges against Nofziger involved oral and written contacts he made with then-White House counselor Edwin Meese III and other White House officials on behalf of three clients--Wedtech Corp., Fairchild Republic Co. and a maritime union.

The most politically sensitive charge in the case involved an April 8, 1982, memo Nofziger sent to Meese, urging Meese or even the President to help Wedtech win a $32-million Army contract.

The jury found Nofziger guilty of that charge but acquitted him of the second Wedtech count involving a May 28, 1982, note he sent to Meese’s deputy, James Jenkins. During the trial, Nofziger’s lawyer tried to suggest that another Wedtech consultant had signed the May 28 note.

The two other convictions of Nofziger involved lobbying work he performed for Fairchild Republic Co. and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Assn.