[Tintin]

Federal case a sham, say supporters

The reported target in an alleged murder-for-hire plot appears to be supporting the main suspect in the case – her husband, former Aryan Nations lawyer Edgar Steele.

Cyndi Steele joined her husband’s supporters Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d’Alene as Edgar J. Steele, 65, pleaded not guilty to four additional felonies, one of which carries a mandatory sentence of at least 30 years in federal prison.

She spent several minutes talking to her husband’s public defender, Roger Peven, and to her husband’s friends before leaving without speaking to a reporter.

Several of Edgar Steele’s supporters said the case against him is a fraud and called him a “political prisoner” targeted because of his legal work against the federal government.

They pointed to voice impersonation software they say was used to fabricate recordings of Steele discussing the murder plot with Sagle resident Larry Fairfax, who the FBI said wore a hidden recording device after telling investigators of Steele’s plan.