Ten Years In Prison for a Birthday Card

http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_9b64e3bd-b718-5b39-b7e8-44aa5bf32ff3.html

Steele may have violated order

Murder-for-hire suspect allegedly sent birthday card to his wife from jail

COEUR d'ALENE - Prosecutors say a birthday card mailed from jail by Edgar J. Steele, likely to his wife at their home near Sagle, is a possible violation of a court-ordered no-contact order. The card included the handwritten line: "Never, in a million years, would I do anything to knowingly harm you."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci J. Whelan filed documents in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene to notify the court of the birthday card.

"It appears to the United States this is not only a violation of the court's no-contact order, but another blatant attempt by the defendant to persuade his wife (Cyndi Steele) to do whatever is necessary to help him," Whelan wrote.

Edgar Steele, a 65-year-old attorney who has handled multiple high-profile trials, is charged with allegedly hiring someone to kill his wife and mother-in-law and make it look like an automobile accident. Steele has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say they have audio recordings of Steele hiring a hitman to get the job done. The recordings were made with the help of the hitman-turned-informant who wore a hidden recording device in secret meetings with Steele.

A trial is set for Nov. 1 in front of Chief U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Coeur d'Alene.

Steele's attorney, Roger Peven, couldn't immediately be reached for comment Monday about the birthday card.

In the card, Edgar Steele writes: "How do I begin to say I'm sorry for being the reason that all this has befallen our family. I know how to say 'I love you.' Though they won't let me say it, they can't stop me from loving you ... nor you from loving me, of course - which I hope you still do, sweetheart."

Prosecutors received a copy of the letter sent by Steele from the Spokane County Jail, where he's being held. The card was sent out last month, and Cyndi Steele's birthday is July 29, court documents say.

The envelope was addressed to Kelsey Steele, Edgar Steele's daughter.

But, prosecutors say, "The handwritten message is indicative of what a husband might write to his wife."

Inside the card, Steele writes: "Do whatever it takes to be able to stand by my side and to continue to be my partner in life."

And, "With all of my heart, happy birthday, my love."

A copy of the birthday card and envelope were filed in court documents last week.

Two days after Steele was arrested June 11, Steele was recorded making phone calls from Kootenai County jail to his son and wife, instructing them that Cyndi Steele must tell authorities that the voice of the man ordering the hit isn't her husband's.

Prosecutors played the jail-house calls to his wife and son from June 13 during a court hearing on June 22.

"No matter what you hear, no matter what you think, no matter what you feel, you have to say the following: 'No, that is not my husband's voice,'" Steele told his wife. "Then, like a rhinoceros in the road, you have to stand your ground and refuse to say anything but that."

Steele was indicted June 15 on a charge of murder-for-hire, and at that time the court granted a motion by prosecutors to establish a no-contact order to prevent Steele from communicating with his wife.

Late last month, prosecutors added against Steele the charges of tampering with a witness (because of the jail-house phone calls to his wife), use of explosive material, and possession of a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence. A large pipe bomb was found under Cyndi Steele's vehicle during an oil change in June. Steele has pleaded not guilty to those additional charges as well.

Winmill approved a monitored jail-house visit between Steele and his wife, to discuss "common property and interests, as well as financial issues related to their children."

On Aug. 11, Winmill approved the meeting, but set multiple ground rules. The Steeles would not be permitted to exchange notes or other documents and they could not discuss the case against Edgar Steele or anything related to it. And Peven would have to record the entire meeting.

A day after the meeting was approved by the court, prosecutors got copies of Steele's mail. It was unclear Monday whether the meeting has taken place or will still take place.

Whelan couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Edgar Steele Update from August 19th Radio Free Northwest

Next, a brief Edgar Steele update. It looks like at the last minute the trial has now been postponed to November 1st. It was supposed to have started on Monday, August the 16th. Let’s hope that Steele’s court-appointed defense counsel uses that time to look into all the aspects and possibilities of government fabrication of audio files. Just on general principles I would love to see somebody successfully challenge government wiretaps and other covert recordings, because I know that there has been a lot of suspicion in the past that these audios have been tampered with in other cases, organized crime surveillance tapes and whatnot. Most juries are so dumb that they assume the accused person is bound to be guilty or he wouldn’t be there.

There is another development which I find very significant, if true, but unfortunately the only source for this information we have so far is a rather dubious one, and for that reason I won’t mention anything about this until I can get it confirmed or denied one way or another. The entire broadcast may be found at

http://northwestfront.org/2010/08/radio-free-northwest-august-19th-2010/

Steele's Attorney

Edgar Steele's bashful public defender is apparently named Roger Peven. I'd give his office address and number but A) the Goat Dancers will shriek and holler that I am somehow "sabotaging" Ed's defense and B) the FBI might arrest me for "threatening" Mr. Peven by posting to the internet information which is already a matter of public record. (This is what they did to Bill White.)

Edgar Steele Update from August 12th Radio Free Northwest

Okay, now let’s kick off with our weekly Edgar Steele update. So far as anyone knows the trial is still scheduled to begin Monday, August 16. My guess is that it will take a couple of weeks. At this point there’s not much merit in speculating on the outcome. It’s pretty clear that the federal case against Steele is incredibly weak; basically all they seem to have is a few video and audio tapes in which those who have heard them claim to have detected serious audio anomalies in the crucial points in the conversation between Steele and the federal informant Larry Fairfax, the points where Steele is supposed to be actually discussing the murder for hire plot. Fairfax himself is so compromised by his own arrest for planting a bomb in Cyndi Steele’s SUV that I am astonished that the government is still relying on him, but I suppose they have no choice.

Now, I really think we need to be looking at one crucial point here: who is this public defender that Edgar Steele has been lumbered with because the government deliberately seized all his bank accounts and assets? Maybe I missed it somewhere, but does anyone on our side even know his name? I just read over all the published news media reports on the case again, and maybe I just missed it, but I don’t think even the media have given us this attorney’s name. They just refer to him as a “public defender.”

Is this guy any good? Does he show up for court prepared and sober, or does his slouch into the courtroom unshaven in a sweaty shirt and reeking of last night’s bourbon binge? A lot of public defenders are basically courthouse loafers, ward heelers, and hopeless drunks who can’t get any other employment anywhere else in the legal system, because they’ve been caught in acts of dishonesty or perjury and because they’re so dysfunctional in their personal lives. It could well be that freezing Ed. Steele’s assets was a deliberate attempt on the part of the regime to make sure he ended up with a lousy lawyer who won’t ask any embarrassing questions but who will sort of mumble his way through the trial.

Can this man be relied upon to stand up in that courtroom and ask the pointed questions that need to be asked? Will the subject of possible politically motivated government entrapment even be broached at all in the jury’s hearing? Will he subject the federal informant Larry Fairfax to a genuine, searching cross-examination not only as to his actions but as to his motives? Will he delve deeply into the length and nature of Fairfax’s contacts with the FBI? Or will he just slough off Fairfax’s cross with a few mumbled irrelevancies? Will he take the line that “Oh, no, we mustn’t mention possible government fabrication, because that will prejudice the jury and get the judge angry at me?” Does he have the strength of character to demand that the government pay for an independent audio expert to examine the original tapes, or I should more likely say the original digital audio recordings, of Edgar Steele allegedly asking this idiot Fairfax to kill his family?

By the way, for those of you who are interested in the ins and outs and technical details of the case itself, so far as we know them, there is a new website up at www.takeourworldback.com/steeleframeup.htm

This is a pretty good rundown of the facts, insofar as the facts are known.

Edgar Steele Comment on RFN

Okay, now let’s kick off with our weekly Edgar Steele update. So far as anyone knows the trial is still scheduled to begin Monday, August 16. My guess is that it will take a couple of weeks. At this point there’s not much merit in speculating on the outcome. It’s pretty clear that the federal case against Steele is incredibly weak; basically all they seem to have is a few video and audio tapes in which those who have heard them claim to have detected serious audio anomalies in the crucial points in the conversation between Steele and the federal informant Larry Fairfax, the points where Steele is supposed to be actually discussing the murder for hire plot. Fairfax himself is so compromised by his own arrest for planting a bomb in Cyndi Steele’s SUV that I am astonished that the government is still relying on him, but I suppose they have no choice.

Now, I really think we need to be looking at one crucial point here: who is this public defender that Edgar Steele has been lumbered with because the government deliberately seized all his bank accounts and assets? Maybe I missed it somewhere, but does anyone on our side even know his name? I just read over all the published news media reports on the case again, and maybe I just missed it, but I don’t think even the media have given us this attorney’s name. They just refer to him as a quote-unquote “public defender.”

Is this guy any good? Does he show up for court prepared and sober, or does his slouch into the courtroom unshaven in a sweaty shirt and reeking of last night’s Bourbon binge? A lot of public defenders are basically courthouse loafers, ward heelers, and hopeless drunks who can’t get any other employment anywhere else in the legal system, because they’ve been caught in acts of dishonesty or perjury and because they’re so dysfunctional in their personal lives. It could well be that freezing Ed. Steele’s assets was a deliberate attempt on the part of the regime to make sure he ended up with a lousy lawyer who won’t ask any embarrassing questions but who will sort of mumble his way through the trial.

Can this man be relied upon to stand up in that courtroom and ask the pointed questions that need to be asked? Will the subject of possible politically motivated government entrapment even be broached at all in the jury’s hearing? Will he subject the federal informant Larry Fairfax to a genuine, searching cross-examination not only as to his actions but as to his motives? Will he delve deeply into the length and nature of Fairfax’s contacts with the FBI? Or will he just slough off Fairfax’s cross with a few mumbled irrelevancies? Will he take the line that “Oh, no, we mustn’t mention possible government fabrication, because that will prejudice the jury and get the judge angry at me?” Does he have the strength of character to demand that the government pay for an independent audio expert to examine the original tapes, or I should more likely say the original digital audio recordings, of Edgar Steele allegedly asking this idiot Fairfax to kill his family?

By the way, for those of you who are interested in the ins and outs and technical details of the case itself, so far as we know them, there is a new website up at www.takeourworldback.com/steeleframeup.htm. This is a pretty good rundown of the facts, insofar as the facts are known.

Edgar Steele Stormfront Post

Posted by: PoseidonOfTakeOurWorldBack
On: 08-05-2010 04:14 PM

I thought Stormfront was supposed to be a *pro*-White forum. Over the last few weeks I've been compiling a long article about the Ed Steele case - extended timeline with screenshots of the news reports, concise timeline that makes it easier to spot the absurdities, discussion of the absurdities / debunking of the official conspiracy theory, etc. And there's a video to go with it. Now I find the main thread's been closed on the "murder-for-hire plot", the very day I'd finished my page and was about to post details over there.

Given that the prosecution 'evidence' is so weak, the plot so preposterous and the contradictions so prevalent, a good legal defense should make all the difference in this case. The Feds seized his life savings, so he cannot afford a good private lawyer (http://www.free-edgar-steele.com/?p=44) - and he can't run the case from a jail cell. If Ed Steele is acquitted - as he should be - it would be a kick in the teeth for the parasites and liars who hate to have their deceptions exposed.

There must be many people who have vaguely heard about the Ed Steele case, who haven't looked into it, who just don't know if he's innocent or guilty, and therefore will not make any donation. These people must be given the facts about this case. But they cannot be expected to wade through 100+ page threads, multiple forums, and time-wasting comments and diversions by trolls and shills, so I have compiled all the information on a single page for the reader to see how this case is obviously a set up.

The Frame-Up of Edgar Steele (http://www.takeourworldback.com/steeleframeup.htm)

Introduction
Timeline (extended)
Timeline (concise)
Discussion
The Preponderance of Evidence in Favor of Edgar Steele The 'Evidence' for the Prosecution Conclusion - More Likely Scenario What To Do Next

Also see the accompanying video of the same name.

YouTube - ‪The Frame-Up of Edgar Steele‬‎

From Radio Free Northwest

[The following is from Radio Free Northwest dated August 5th, 2010.]

We begin as always with our weekly Edgar Steele update. A hearing was held in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on July 28 with a federal judge who phoned it in from Boise. The accounts I get from people who were there indicate that Steele’s public defender was pretty lackadaisical about the whole thing. We’re not talking Matlock here, apparently.

Well, what can you expect? I repeat that for someone to entrust their defense to an attorney who is being paid his salary by the same regime that is trying to do you harm, seems to me to be a bit of a conflict of interest, but often defendants have no choice. It’s pretty obvious to me that the public defender system is one of these aspects of democracy that is intended to establish the appearance of fairness and justice, while making sure that the reality of fairness and justice is always weighted in favor of the power structure and that the people the System wants locked up get duly locked up.

I mean, come on now! Outside of a lawyer show on television, when was the last time anyone ever heard of a public defender actually getting anybody released from the jaws of the mincing machine? What public defenders are good at is negotiating plea bargains. I have known a lot of guys who have been arrested, and they have described to me their experiences with public defenders. The daily pressure from the cops, the prosecution, and their own lawyers to cop a plea from these people is immense, and it takes almost superhuman strength of will to resist. I can almost tell you with almost full certainty that right now Ed Steele’s public defender is twisting the screws on Ed in every way he can to try and persuade him to cop a plea. One of the reasons in our Northwest Constitution we prohibit lawyers as a profession.

Anyway, getting back to the hearing, a trial date for Edgar Steele has been set for August 16, which I repeat is absolute lightning speed by Federal standards. The kid who was arrested for posting a poem to the internet didn’t come to court for five months, (more on him in a bit) and Bill White had to wait almost 18 months for a trial.

Not even a hint of a trial date yet for the Hutaree militia, so far as I know. They were arrested in late March and on May 3^rd a judge granted bail to all nine of the accused, which is basically his way of saying that he knows full well the FBI case is bullshit. If there had been any genuine evidence of a conspiracy or any serious danger of violent resistance to the régime. then all nine of them would still be buried alive under the jailhouse.

I don’t deny that there is still the odd federal judge around who may actually have some last lingering remnants of a sense of decency. Apparently this one who granted the Michigan defendants bond is one such. I guess the régime’s case against those nine hapless individuals is so obviously contrived and filled with perjury there that even a lifelong servant of the system in a black robe gagged on it. A pity Edgar Steele can’t get a judge like that.

I personally suspect that the reason for Edgar Steele’s overly speedy trial is that the régime wants to convict Steele before they have to try their own informant Larry Fairfax for planting the bomb in Cyndi Steele’s SUV. So far as I am aware they haven’t set a trial date for Fairfax, and he seems to have dropped off the radar. That saves them from the embarrassment of having to rely on the word of a convicted felon in the Steele case, and I am sure that with his own case hanging over his head, Mr. Fairfax will definitely be on his p’s and q’s in the courtroom and turn in a stellar performance.

The complete podcast may be found at

http://northwestfront.org/2010/08/radio-free-northwest-august-5th-2010/

Steele Trial Date August 16th

Edgar Steele is being rushed to trial on August 16th. Obviously they want to move him in and move him out real quick, before the trial of Larry Fairfax.