JURY ACQUITS TWO IN PLANE DEAL; REJECTS CIA'S INNOCENCE TALE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000300510008-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 19, 1999
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: October 18, 1966
• Content Type: NSPR

THE WORKER FOIAb3b
Approved For Release CQcOI($BJQ%: CIA-RDP75-00149R9
CPYRGHT
kIyIq~ft
in Plane Deal;
:Rejects CIA
tary materiel to any foreign to the Air Force. testified during
The t\vo men, John R. Hawke
a former RAF pilot, an4 Count
Henri Marie Francois de Marin
de Montmarin, a French air-
plane broker, were charged with
viblation of the Federal Mu-
nitions Control Act, which for-
bids unlicensed export of mili-
BU11 FALO - The Central Intelligent Agency has aided the sale of U.S. B-26 bon b-
ers for use against? ebels in Portugal's African colonies. That is,,, in effect, the acquit al
verdict which a federal jury reached last= week in the Hawke-Montinarin trial.
_
as l
e
Innocence Tal
country except Canada. the trial that h.o had discussed
I CIA participation in the project
Hawke and Montmarin test- i with officers of the U.S. Air Force
ified that they had been working and had been assured by Gregory
for the CIA. H. Board, the man responsible for
The CIA said they had not. carrying out the, transaction, that
The jury, aparently, believed the plan had been worked out in
Hawke and Montmarin. cooperation with the CIA.
The wired impact of the jury's ` Carden had also stated prior
decision became evident the day to the trial that he himself had
following the verdict. The ver-
dict would undermine govern-
ment witnesses in the future
when the CIA or any other se-
cret government operations are
brought into open court.
Reaction in Buffalo was such
that Dr. William B. Fox, jury
foreman, declared Friday that
the jury had not impugned the
credibility of the government's
case. "The jury," said Fox, "re-
jected the defense allegation the
U.S. Government was in any way
involved;
nvolved in the transaction."
Fox did not, however, attempt
to explain what the basis of the
jury's decision had been, if it
was not disbelief in the govern-
ment's story.
Edwin Manger and Edward
Bjrodsky, attorneys for Hawke
and Montmarin, have contended
throughout the trial that the en-
tire -enterprise was a secret op-
eration of the CIA. Although this
vras contested by the prosecution,
CIA documents produced at the
trial showed that the Agency,
..
as over a dozer, other first recommended Hawke f; r
Federal agencies. had full knowl- the flights to Portugal.
edge of the flights at least four Hawke has stated that he w: s
days before the first plane left recruited for the flights in tl e
for Portugal. summer of 1865 by Board, wbb
Martin Caiden, aeronautics indicated that the planes were >:i
writer and frequent consultant be used in Angola and Mozan -
bique. Board, also named in ti,3
indictment, had left the coun-
try, presumably to avoid pros.
cution.
The planes, Hawke stated, u e: 3
purchased from an Arizona firru;
ostensibly by a Canadian, f,
immediate shipment to Portugt ,
The money came throug.
Switzerland. The deal was ar-
ranged by Count de Montmarir.
Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000300510008-8