Former CIA Chief in Costa Rica Charged in Iran-Contra Probe

The CIA’s former station chief in Costa Rica was charged today with conspiracy, obstructing the Tower Commission’s investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal and making false statements to government agencies.

Joseph F. Fernandez, 51, the CIA station chief also known as Tomas Castillo, was accused of helping fired National Security Council aide Oliver L. North and arms dealer Richard V. Secord deliver weapons and military supplies to the Nicaraguan rebels on a so-called southern front of that country’s civil war.

The indictment charges that between June and September of 1986, Fernandez also helped other unidentified members of the conspiracy deliver eight shipments of supplies to the Contras. He is also charged with making false and misleading statements to a staff member of the CIA’s Central American Task Force regarding the true nature of the airstrip he is accused of helping build in northern Costa Rica to help deliver supplies to the Contras.

Fernandez, 51, is also charged with making false statements to the commission appointed by President Reagan that investigated the Iran-Contra affair.

The indictment charges that Fernandez falsely told the Tower Commission on Jan. 21, 1987, that he did not know that a supply shipment he helped deliver to the Contras in September, 1986, contained weapons and ammunition.

The five-count indictment also charges that Fernandez falsely stated to the CIA’s Office of Inspector General that the airstrip project in northern Costa Rica was a project to train Costa Rican forces by that country’s government.