Eugene Hasenfus, key figure in 1980s Iran-Contra affair, dies at 84

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Eugene Hasenfus, who played a key role in unraveling the Iran-Contra affair after his CIA-backed supply plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986, has died.

Hasenfus died on Nov. 26 in Menominee, Michigan, after a nine-year battle with cancer, according to his obituary from the Hansen-Onion-Martell Funeral Home in Marinette, Wisconsin. He was 84.

Hasenfus was born Jan. 22, 1941, in Marinette. He served with the Marines in Vietnam and continued a private career in aviation before he became a key figure in the Cold War's Iran-Contra scandal in 1986.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan authorized the CIA to support the anti-communist right-wing guerrilla force known as the Contras who were working against the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan government. Congress cut off all military assistance to the Contras in 1984.

Months before the cutoff, top officials in Reagan's administration ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network to the Contras. The operation’s day-to-day activities were handled by National Security Council aide Oliver North. The goal was to keep the Contras operating until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding.

The secrecy of North’s network unraveled after one of its planes with Hasenfus on board was shot down over Nicaragua in October 1986. Three other crew members died, but Hasenfus parachuted into the jungle and evaded authorities for more than 24 hours.

He was captured by the leftist Nicaraguan government and charged with several crimes, including terrorism.

Hasenfus said after his capture that the CIA was supervising the supply flights to the Contras. At first, Reagan administration officials lied by saying that the plane had no connection to the U.S. government.

Congress, spurred by controversy over the Hasenfus flight, eventually launched an investigation.

Hasenfus was convicted in Nicaragua of charges related to his role in delivering arms to the Contras and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega pardoned Hasenfus a month later and he returned to his home in northern Wisconsin.

In 1988, he filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking $135 million in damages against two men and two companies linked to the Iran-Contra arms deals.

In 2003, he pleaded guilty in Brown County Circuit Court to a charge of lewd, lascivious behavior after he exposed himself in the parking lot of a grocery store. His probation was revoked in 2005 and he spent time in jail, according to online court records.

He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.