•Wife of imprisoned Idaho attorney in dire straits
By Pat Shannan
Cyndi Steele, the wife of jailed free speech lawyer Edgar Steele, tells AMERICAN FREE PRESS that, while her husband is serving what amounts to a life sentence in federal prison for a crime that never happened, her problems on the outside are now worse than ever.
In 2011, Edgar Steele was arrested, tried and convicted of “murder for hire” of his wife and mother-in-law after his handyman, Larry Fairfax, and the FBI claimed they had recorded conversations between Fairfax and Steele plotting together. Fairfax admitted that he had placed a “pipe bomb” on Mrs. Steele’s SUV. The bomb was found by a mechanic in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Later, it was determined that the bomb was a fake and could not explode. Still, Steele was sentenced to 50 years on Nov. 9, 2011, while Fairfax was handed a mere 18 months—indicative of who the real target was all along.
A month after Steele’s conviction, Steele’s defense attorney Robert McAllister lost his license to practice law and now faces criminal charges of fraud related to several cases. This alone could send McAllister away for 20 years. From the start, Steele trial watchers suspected McAllister of being a sellout because of a questionable defense put on by the highly paid attorney at the Boise federal trial.
In an interview with AFP, Mrs. Steele said that “it’s bad enough” that the government would fabricate charges to incarcerate her husband for the rest of his life and that the FBI destroyed part of their home during a search. Now, the feds want her to even pay for her husband’s federal fines that accompanied his sentence.
Steele has been moved to a California prison, where Mrs. Steele is denied any visitation because, according to the warden there, to allow her to visit would “diminish the seriousness of the offense and possibly create a serious safety and security concern for [prison] staff.”
Mrs. Steele recently learned that Social Security has not only stopped Steele’s monthly payments but is further demanding that she pay back the past nine months of payments since his conviction.
Now she informs us that Fairfax, who admitted taking the family’s silver stash worth over $100,000 prior to staging the “murder for hire” charade, is about to be released from prison. Her insurance company recently said it believes Fairfax is an ongoing threat to her. In order to continue to insure her home and vehicles, the United States Automobile Association (USAA) demanded that she divorce her husband of 27 years. Since she has refused to do so, last month, USAA canceled both her homeowners and car insurance policies.
“All I can see is the continued victimization by the FBI, the government and judicial system that I have had to endure for the past 22 months,” she told AFP.
FREE EDGAR T-SHIRTS
THE FOUNDATION TO DEFEND THE FIRST AMENDMENT (FDFA) still has about 100 high quality “FREE EDGAR t-shirts still available. Size medium, large and extra-large. Each olive green t-shirt has the donation website for Ed Steeleʼs legal defense fund. FDFA is asking for a $15 contribution per shirt. Weʼll also send you our special report. No S&H in U.S. Send request with payment made to FDFA to 645 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, #100, Washington, D.C. 20003. If youʼd like to charge a donation to FDFA, please call 1-888-688-6397 toll free.
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Pat Shannan is a contributing editor of American Free Press. He is also the author of several videos and books including One in a Million: An IRS Travesty, I Rode With Tupper and Everything They* Ever Told Me Was a Lie. All are available from FIRST AMENDMENT BOOKS. Call 1-888-699-6397 toll free to charge.
