The Nation - News from July 5, 1989

Oliver L. North, who held the nation spellbound with his congressional testimony on the Iran-Contra affair two years ago, stands before a judge today who could put him behind bars for 10 years. The special prosecutor in the Iran-Contra affair has asked U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to impose a prison term on the 45-year-old retired Marine lieutenant colonel on the grounds that he lied and showed no remorse at his trial. Lawyers for the former national security aide who quarterbacked the sale of arms to Iran in 1985 and diverted the profits to the Nicaraguan Contras replied that it would be “cruel and unjust” to incarcerate North. North was convicted on three felony counts and acquitted on nine others in the scandal.