Harry Steward; Attorney Expanded Program for Indigent Defendants

Harry D. Steward, a former U.S. attorney in San Diego who expanded a federal program to represent indigent defendants, has died. He was 74.

Steward died Monday in a Vista nursing home of lung disease, family members said.

In 1966, Steward oversaw the growth of Federal Defenders to include the state courts, providing poor clients with federally paid defense lawyers.

In 1969, he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California by then-President Richard Nixon.

The district, which was previously part of the Los Angeles-based district, includes Imperial and San Diego counties.

During his five-year tenure, Steward prosecuted John Alessio in what federal officials described as the largest single income tax evasion case on record.

Alessio was sentenced to three years in federal prison. His brother, Angelo Alessio, was sentenced to one year in prison.

In 1974, Steward resigned after members of the Senate Judiciary Committee accused him of obstructing an investigation into allegedly illegal contributions to the 1968 Republican presidential campaign by San Diego financiers.

Then-Deputy U.S. Atty. Gen. Richard Kleindienst absolved Steward of any wrongdoing. The action became an issue at Kleindienst’s confirmation hearing as attorney general.

Steward was born in Los Angeles. He joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 and flew 95 missions, mostly over the Himalayas.

After earning a law degree from USC, Steward soon became a federal prosecutor as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.

Steward is survived by his wife, Valerie; a son, H. Dean, who is a federal public defender in Santa Ana, and four grandchildren.