Ex-Station Chief Indicted as Iran Case Spreads to CIA

A former CIA station chief in Costa Rica was indicted Monday on charges of conspiracy to provide illegal aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, a sign that independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh has extended his investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal to focus on the actions of several CIA officials.

Joseph F. Fernandez, 51, was charged with helping then-White House aide Oliver L. North deliver guns to the Contras in 1986, during a period when Congress had banned U.S. military aid to the rebels. The five-count grand jury indictment also accused Fernandez of lying to his superiors, to the CIA’s inspector general and to a White House commission in an attempt to conceal his operation.

Fernandez, who used the name “Tomas Castillo” on his secret operations in Costa Rica, was the first CIA official to be indicted on charges stemming from the secret operation to resupply the Contras--and is believed to be the first station chief ever indicted for actions while on duty.

“Between the middle of April and September, 1986 . . . Fernandez, along with his co-conspirators, (directed) the delivery of lethal military supplies to the Contras in southern Nicaragua,” the indictment charged. At the time, Congress had prohibited the CIA explicitly from involvement in arms shipments to the rebels.

Fernandez was a key figure in North’s effort to supply weapons to the Contras because one of the rebel groups receiving the arms was based along Costa Rica’s border with Nicaragua. Most of Fernandez’s actions cited in the indictment have been previously reported.

The grand jury’s action indicated that Walsh may seek other indictments even as he prepares to try North, former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and Los Gatos businessman Albert A. Hakim on separate conspiracy charges.

One of Walsh’s assistants, Laurence Shtasel, told reporters that the grand jury was continuing to meet and indicated that its 18-month term, which expires next month, may be extended.

“The grand jury’s investigation is ongoing,” Shtasel said when asked about the expiration date.

Conspiracy Charges

North, Poindexter, Secord and Hakim were indicted in March on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government by diverting profits from President Reagan’s secret Iranian arms sales to the Contra supply effort.

The indictment of Fernandez indicated that Walsh’s investigation has entered a new phase--increasingly focused on the actions of several CIA officials and others who were involved in North’s ostensibly private covert operations network.

The independent counsel aimed his initial effort at investigating the four “core defendants”--North, Poindexter, Secord and Hakim--who have acknowledged that they ran the secret White House-based operation. Walsh initially postponed seeking indictments against other figures in the scandal in the hope that he could concentrate on trying the four main defendants together.

Earlier this month, however, U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell ordered the core defendants tried in four separate proceedings. As a result, one official said, it could be several years before all four trials are completed--and Walsh was apparently unwilling to wait that long before seeking additional indictments.

Six Officers Disciplined

Fernandez, who was fired by CIA Director William H. Webster last December, was one of six agency officers disciplined for their actions in the Iran-Contra affair.

Among the others, James Adkins, an operations officer in Honduras, was fired after the agency discovered that he had authorized helicopter flights to carry supplies to the Contras. Alan D. Fiers, the chief of the agency’s Central America Task Force, and Duane (Dewey) Clarridge, head of the CIA’s counterterrorism program, were formally reprimanded.

Fernandez testified before Congress last summer that his superiors, including Fiers, knew he was helping to coordinate weapons supply flights to the Contras and did nothing to stop him. Fiers denied knowing about most of Fernandez’s actions.

‘Misleading Statements’

The indictment delivered Monday appeared to side with Fiers. It said that Fernandez “made false and misleading statements” and “submitted incomplete and unresponsive cables to officers of the CIA’s Central America Task Force” when his superiors asked about his actions.

The indictment also named several others as participating in meetings that “furthered the conspiracy,” but it did not identify them formally as co-conspirators. They included Contra leaders Adolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez, former CIA operative Rafael Quintero and North aides William Haskell and Robert W. Owen. Owen has been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

Fernandez’s attorney, Thomas E. Wilson, declined to comment on the indictment.

If convicted, Fernandez faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the five counts.