Edgar Steele

[Donald E. Pauly]

Originally Posted by Bev

No, I knew it wasn't your site they were on about. Should've made that clear. I don't know which it is though. I thought you might know..

I can't find any other scams out there. Box 1255 seems to be Cyndi's box. I did find where Steele gave $250 to the Republican Party in 1996 from San Francisco. That seems to be just before he moved to Idaho and built the horse ranch for Cyndi.

http://www.city-data.com/elec2/96/el...TEO-CA-96.html

EDGAR J STEELE (THE LAW FIRM OF EDGAR J STEE), (Zip code: 94402) $250 to NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS on 08/21/96

[Bev]

Originally Posted by Donald E. Pauly

I can't find any other scams out there. Box 1255 seems to be Cyndi's box. I did find where Steele gave $250 to the Republican Party in 1996 from San Francisco. That seems to be just before he moved to Idaho and built the horse ranch for Cyndi.

I've done a cursory search myself and come up with nothing that doesn't lead back to his own blog or to the free EJS site.

[Donald E. Pauly]

I overlooked this government sentencing memo on the court files. It contains some interesting insights.

http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/sentence/govmemo.pdf

WENDY J. OLSON, IDAHO STATE BAR NO. 7634
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

D. MARC HAWS, IDAHO STATE BAR NO. 2483
TRACI J. WHELAN, IDAHO STATE BAR NO. 4416
ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

DISTRICT OF IDAHO
WASHINGTON GROUP, PLAZA IV
800 E. PARK BLVD., SUITE 600
BOISE, IDAHO 83712
TELEPHONE: (208) 334-1211
FACSIMILE: (208) 334-1413

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
vs.
EDGAR J. STEELE,
Defendant.

Cr. No. 10-148-N-BLW
GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCING MEMORANDUM

The United States of America, by and through United States Attorney, Wendy J. Olson, and Assistant United States Attorneys Traci J. Whelan and D. Marc Haws, now submits this Sentencing Memorandum in the above-captioned case.

INTRODUCTION

Following an eight-day trial, the jury convicted Defendant Edgar J. Steele on all four counts charged against him:

COUNT I – Use of Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder
for Hire, 18 U.S.C. § 1958;

COUNT II – Use of Explosive Materials to Commit Federal Felony, 18 U.S.C. § 844(h);

COUNT III – Possession of a Destructive Device in Relation to a Crime of Violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(B)(ii); and

COUNT IV – Tampering with a Victim, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3).

SUMMARY OF FACTS PROVEN AT TRIAL

The jury’s verdict was based on testimonial and tangible evidence that between December 2009 and June 11, 2010, in the District of Idaho, Defendant Edgar Steele hired and plotted with Larry Fairfax to murder Edgar Steele’s wife, Cyndi Steele, and then also Steele’s mother-in-law, Jacqueline Kunzman. Specifically, the evidence showed that Edgar Steele caused another to travel in interstate commerce with intent that a murder be committed in violation of the laws of Oregon and Idaho.

Knowing that his wife would be traveling in her car from Idaho to Oregon, Steele took advantage of her travel as an opportunity to murder Cyndi with a pipe bomb attached to her car. Later, he caused Fairfax to travel between Idaho and Oregon to ascertain what happened to the pipe bomb since it did not explode; thus causing Fairfax to travel in furtherance of the plan to kill Cyndi Steele. Moreover, the automobile used by the victim and the automobile used by his co-Defendant were instrumentalities of interstate commerce on public highway systems.

Evidence showed that the first method Steele used for committing the murder was to hire Fairfax for $10,000, paid in silver, to construct and place two pipe bombs—“explosive or destructive devices” as charged in Counts II and III—on vehicles owned by the Steeles, so that when Cyndi Steele drove from Idaho to Oregon on or about May 28, 2010 the first bomb would explode and kill her.

The plan was devised so that the second bomb would be discovered on Edgar Steele’s car, un-detonated, diverting suspicion from Edgar Steele. The bomb on Cyndi’s car did not go off; so Edgar Steele sent Fairfax to Oregon to check on and remove the bomb from Cyndi’s vehicle to avoid the murder plot from being discovered. Thus, the evidence showed that the murder plan was ongoing, and the travel by Larry Fairfax was in furtherance of Steele’s murder plot.

When the first plan failed, Steele thought of a second plan and attempted to persuade Fairfax to carry out the murder of not only Cyndi Steele, but also her mother, Jacqueline Kunzman, in Oregon by whatever effective—even violent—means that Fairfax could devise. Steele offered Fairfax an additional $10,000 if the murder included Steele’s mother-in-law. He offered an additional $5,000 if the murders were successfully accomplished in Oregon in such a way that it would appear they were killed in an automobile accident.

Fairfax took the stand at trial and testified candidly. He told how his financial
desperation induced him to participate in Edgar Steele’s murder-for-hire plan. Fairfax’s testimony held up well against strong cross-examination. He said that he was desperately in need of money, and that he had accepted $10,000 in silver coins and bullion in exchange for building and placing a pipe bomb on Cyndi Steele’s car to murder her. When Fairfax realized how deeply and dangerously he was involved with Steele, he sought out federal law enforcement officers.

He told them about Steele’s upcoming plot and helped the FBI to foil it. However, Fairfax admitted he had not been completely candid since he had not initially mentioned anything about the pipe bombs. He assumed it fell off Cyndi’s car; and he had dismantled the other pipe bomb in his garage. At trial, the Defendant unsuccessfully attempted to cast all of the responsibility for the attempted murder plot on Fairfax. Steele’s defense contended that Fairfax was a mischievous neighbor trying to steal money from Edgar and Cyndi Steele.

Defendant Steele also tried at trial to discredit the audio recordings of June 9 and June 10, 2011 in which Steele is heard urging Fairfax to get the murder job done, offering additional money, and agreeing to pay Fairfax travel money to go to Oregon to commit the murders on June 11, 2010. The jury’s verdict shows that they believed Fairfax’s testimony and the authenticity of the audio recordings.

The evidence at trial further established that although the pipe bomb placed on Cyndi’s car did not detonate, its construction showed an intent on the part of the killers that the bomb not fail. It had a double ignition design. It had redundant methods for assuring that it would remain attached to the frame—just below the driver’s seat—of her Mitsubishi Endeavor.

The jury also convicted Steele on Count IV, attempting to corruptly persuade a witness—his wife and intended victim, Cyndi Steele—to give misleading testimony to the FBI investigating the case. Besides establishing the crime of witness intimidation, his recorded phone call to Cyndi Steele on June 13, 2011 confirmed Steele’s consciousness of guilt in plotting to kill her, and his knowledge of the damning evidence in the audio recordings which, at that
point, he had not heard.

SENTENCING STANDARDS

The Ninth Circuit has set a basic framework which the district courts should follow in compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005):

(1) Courts are to begin all sentencing proceedings by correctly determining the applicable sentencing guidelines range, precisely as they would have before Booker.
(2) Courts should then consider the § 3553(a) factors to decide if they support the sentence suggested by the parties. Courts may not presume that the guidelines range is reasonable. Nor should the guidelines factors be given more or less weight than any other. They are simply to be treated as one factor among the § 3553(a) factors that are to be taken into account in arriving at an appropriate sentence.
(3)If a court decides that a sentence outside the guidelines is warranted, then it must consider the extent of the deviation and ensure that the justification is sufficiently compelling to support the degree of the variance.
(4) Courts must explain the selected sentence sufficiently to permit meaningful appellate review. United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 991-92 (9th Cir. 2008). In fashioning the appropriate sentence, the Court should take into consideration the USSG in light of the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). United States v. Armstrong, 620 F.3d 1172, 1178-1179 (9th Cir. 2010). The Government will discuss each of these factors as they relate to the Steele case.

A. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) Factors

Title 18, section 3553(a) of the Criminal Code says that “(t)he court shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in paragraph (2),” which are set out below.

1. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1)—Nature and Circumstances of the Offense and
History and Characteristics of the Defendant

The first part of subsection one of 18 U.S.C. §3 553, considers the nature and
circumstances of the offense. The facts presented at trial show that Edgar Steele devised two chillingly calculated murder plans. To plan the murder of an innocent spouse is unthinkably heartless. To manipulate a financially desperate neighbor to commit the murder with a violent car bomb explosion is depraved. Cold, coveted silver—$10,000 worth of silver—was the value Steele placed on the death of Cyndi, his wife. Despite Steele’s claims—and even Fairfax’s claims—that the pipe bomb was designed not to function, the facts are clearly to the contrary.

The testimony of the bomb squad witnesses was that the bomb removed from Cyndi’s car was large, as pipe bombs go. The evidence of lab and bomb experts was that the pipe bomb was constructed using smokeless double base powder, which—unlike black powder—is highly explosive. The bomb was fitted with two fuses to detonate it which were attached at different points to the catalytic converter of Cyndi’s car. The two-fuse attachment showed intent to make sure the bomb would ignite.

The bomb was attached to the frame of the car with wire and with a powerful magnet to make sure it stayed on Cyndi’s car. These facts show that the intent of the killers was to succeed in exploding the car. Lab and technical testimony showed that the hobby fuses were discolored from contact with heat from the exhaust system of the car. The fuses only failed to ignite because the killers miscalculated the intensity of the heat that the exhaust system would generate to ignite the hobby fuses.

When the pipe bomb on Cyndi Steele’s Mitsubishi Endeavor did not detonate, Edgar Steele was not overcome with relief and remorse. He did not have a change of heart or mind. On the contrary, Edgar Steele became heartlessly more insistent that Fairfax “get this job done” by another means—by a gun shot or an automobile accident. Steele had an opportunity to come to his senses, to change course, to re-think the stupid, callous plan he had set in motion. But he only rethought it to insist that the next plan be more dependable.

A few of Steele’s own words from transcripts of the June 9 and June 10, 2010 audio recordings, and his voice tones captured in the recorded conversations with Larry Fairfax, show he never had a change of heart. Steele says: “Go get, get this job done, Larry.” (6/9 Audio Recording Transcript, p. 3)

“I mean, you gotta get this job done, done. I mean seriously.” Id. “I want to give you a powerful incentive.” Id. “Larry I can count on you?” (6/9 Audio RecordingTr., p. 7)

“How can you be sure that its going to do the job? . . . Alright, well I’ll leave it up to you. I hope it works better than the last one.” Id. “Okay, I’m counting on it. I mean, Larry I am really up against it, it has to happen right now.” Id.

In response to Fairfax’s statement that he has everything lined up, Steele says again: “I’m counting on you.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 10)

“Well, you better not get your f------ ass caught. You get . . . caught over there pulling something like this . . . the trail comes right back to me and there ain’t, we’ll be sharing a cell together.” Id. In response to Fairfax question whether Steele had any second thoughts, Steele says: “No second, shit, have you seen a second thought . . . in me yet?” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., pp. 2-3)

“She gonna see you? ... You know I was watching something on TV, a guys wife got into an auto accident, she was turned into a paraplegic and he was left to take care of her the rest of her life with the kid kinda pitying him and he was, that he’s the one who had to do it. And I thought to myself that’d be awful. You know, ‘cause if I abandoned her at that point my kids would hate me forever, you know I couldn’t do that. I mean, this could actually become a much worse situation than it currently is. Do not, do not leave me like that.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 5)

“So that when that, so when that black and white pulls into my driveway I hope to God I can answer the door and seem normal. Because I won’t know whether they’re ta, they’re here to notify me or they’re here to take me away, because you f----- up and got yourself f-------caught, and then it got pinned on me. ‘Cause if Cindy takes one look at you she’ll know exactly what the f--- ‘s goin’ on.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 7)

“And I will lie myself out of it.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 8)

“But you make sure you get the f------ job done. The worst thing you could do is not get the job done. Get your ass caught and you’ll be f------ swinging out there ... and there won’t be anything I can do, except the best, to throw you to the f------ wolves.” Id. “I’m pissed off, but, I don’t want her to suffer and I don’t want her to realize as the lights are going out what’s happened. I’d like that not to happen . . . I’d like it to be a mystery or a surprise, or better yet, happen so fast she, that she’s not even aware of what’s going on. That’s the way I’d like it, okay?” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 9)

“. . . I want, I want this over with . . . No, there ain’t no second thoughts pal.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 10)

These few, chilling words from Steele’s own heart, mind and mouth establish the outrageous circumstances of his offenses.

The second part of subsection one of 18 U.S.C. § 3553 requires consideration of the history and characteristics of the defendant. Edgar Steele has no significant prior criminal record. By profession, he was a long-time attorney handling civil cases. Anyone who seeks to know who Edgar Steele is, soon comes face-to-face with Edgar Steele’s political beliefs. Edgar Steele has attempted to suggest his ideologies were a motive for the Government to bring this prosecution. Nothing could be further from the truth. His political bent does not weigh in the balance either for or against him on this case. His ideologies were no reason to bring this case, and his ideologies were no dissuasion from bringing this case. This case was brought based upon its facts.

President Theodore Roosevelt said in his Third Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1903: “No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.” Edgar Steele’s history and ideology do not place him above the law. Nor do they place him below it. Incarceration is warranted in this case, not because of what Edgar Steele’s ideologies are, nor because of who Edgar Steele is, but because of what he did to commit these crimes.

The pre-sentence investigation will undoubtedly shed much more light on the
Defendant’s past, as well as positive comments on his life by his friends and associates. Undoubtedly, many people may have many positive things to say about the Defendant; but the law exacts a price to be paid for his crimes which have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. 18 U.S.C. §3553(a)(2)—Need for the Sentence Imposed

(a) To Reflect the Seriousness of the Offense and Promote Respect for
the Law, and to Provide Just Punishment for the Offense

The sentence needs to reflect how serious these crimes are, and it needs to promote respect for the law by imposing just punishment. These federal crimes—Attempted Use of Interstate Travel to Commit Murder-for Hire, Attempted Use of and Explosive Devise, Possession of a Destructive Device, and Witness Tampering—are extremely serious. The facts presented during trial depicted an attorney who seemed to feel he was above the law, that he
could “get a way with murder,” to use the cliche. The facts show a person who manipulated, coerced, and intimidated others to do what he wanted done. The facts show a man who was desperate with self-pity. He was beset by his physical ailments. His marriage was not fulfilling.

He resented his wife’s absences; yet her very existence impeded him from reaching for the quality of life he wanted. He was trapped in a house on a ranchette property which were his wife’s dream; but not his. He fantasized about mail-order Russian brides. He had money; but not health. He had to pay his neighbor to do his handyman jobs. In his plotting, Edgar Steele
seems modeled on Raskolnikov : too far above the law, and too smart to get caught.[Raskolnikov is the main character in Fyodor Dostoyevski’s novel Crime and Punishment. The protagonist feels condescension toward the law and his intellectual superiority by committing the “perfect crime”—a murder.] Unless Edgar Steele serves federal prison time, and receives just punishment, there will not be due respect for the law, and the seriousness of his crimes will be diminished.

(b) To Afford Adequate Deterrence to Criminal Conduct

Related to the punishment objective of promoting respect for the law is the punishment objective of deterring criminal conduct. One goal of federal sentencing is to deter criminal conduct by others; in other words: general deterrence. The assumption is that others who might be inclined to disrespect the law and engage in violent crimes will “think twice,” and be deterred by the prison sentence imposed upon the Defendant. It would be wonderful if all American citizens felt allegiance to law to the extent of being voluntarily obedient to it. However, that is not the case. Some take into account the punishments of the criminal codes, weigh their chances of getting caught, then calculate their risks before undertaking criminal enterprises. This Court’s imposition of a sentence of incarceration on Edgar Steele will help deter others who might be inclined to commit such crimes.

(c) To Protection of the Public from Further Crimes of the Defendant

It is a specific statutory objective to protect the public from further crimes of the Defendant, Edgar Steele. It is reasonable to believe that given his life-long, clean criminal record, Edgar Steele would argue that it is not likely he will commit additional, serious crimes. The same would also have been reasonable to believe about Edgar Steele back in mid-2010.

Undoubtedly, many of his friends and supporters would have said then—and may say now—that Steele poses no threat to family, friends or the public. The facts of this crime, however, demonstrate the fallacy of such thinking. Precisely because Steele had a clean record, and he was a long-time attorney at law, he calculated that he would not be suspected of serious crimes. Undoubtedly, he calculated that his good criminal record and his sound reputation among friends would shield him from suspicion.

Some who attempted to offer inadmissible testimony at trial, probably still cannot accept that Steele could commit the crimes he has been convicted of. The point is: Steele’s prior law-abiding character is not a good predictor of his penchant to commit or not to commit more crimes. Incarceration is the surest way to be confident that society will be safe from further crimes by Edgar Steele.

(d) To Provide the Defendant with . . . Corrective Treatment

It is possible there may be prison resources to benefit the Defendant. Without having the insights which will be provided by a pre-sentence report, and a better understanding of Steele’s physical and mental health, it is impossible to say how the Defendant will benefit from prison programs. What is certain is that the Defendant will have time to think and reflect on his actions while in prison.

3. The Kinds of Sentences Available

The starting point for analyzing the kinds of sentences available, is to consider the punishments prescribed in the statutes. The punishment under 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a), murder-forhire, is incarceration for not more than ten (10) years—assuming no personal injury results—and a fine of not to exceed $250,000. The punishment under 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), using an explosive
device to commit murder-for-hire, is a sentence of imprisonment for ten (10) years consecutive to the underlying felony, and a fine of not to exceed $250,000. The punishment under 18 U.S.C. §924(c)(1)(B)(ii), possession of a destructive device during and in relation to any crime of violence—murder-for-hire—is imprisonment for not less than 30 years. Like the sentence under
18 U.S.C. § 844(h), this term of imprisonment must be consecutive to the sentence for the underlying offense. The punishment under 18 U.S.C. §1512(b)(3), tampering with a witness or victim, is imprisonment for not more than 20 years and a fine not to exceed $250,000.

Putting this all together, it means that the minimum sentence the Defendant could receive by statute is 480 months. However, that is not the sentence which the Defendant should receive; such a sentence would not adequately reflect the totality of the Defendant’s actions in plotting to kill his wife, commissioning pipe bombs, and obstructing or tampering with a witness into consideration; it would punish him only for the use of an explosive or destructive device.

The Government’s recommendation starts with USSG §2K2.4: the mandatory minimums of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(B)(ii) must be imposed. His offenses were serious, cruel and interfered with the administration of justice; therefore, the United States recommends the Court sentence the Defendant to a term of federal incarceration of ten (10) years
for his convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a) and 18 U.S.C.§1512(b)(3), with these terms of imprisonment running concurrently with each other.

The Defendant should then be sentenced consecutively to a term of ten (10) years imprisonment pursuant to the mandatory language of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h). Consecutively to that, the Defendant should be sentence to a term of thirty (30) years imprisonment pursuant to the mandatory language of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(B)(ii). These recommendations result in a total term of imprisonment of 600 months incarceration. This is the penalty which accurately accounts for all of the Defendant’s actions and for which Congress has deemed consecutive sentences appropriate.

CONCLUSION

A sentence of 600 months (50 years) of federal incarceration should be imposed upon Edgar Steele.

Respectfully submitted this 24th day of October, 2011

WENDY J. OLSON
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
By:
/s/ Marc Haws
Marc Haws
Traci J. Whelan
Assistant United States Attorney

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I CERTIFY that I am an employee of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho, and that a copy of GOVERNMENT’S SENTENCE MEMORANDUM was served on all parties listed in CM/ECF this 24th day of October, 2011.

Wesley W Hoyt hoytlaw @ hotmail.com
/s/ M. Wahl
Legal Assistant

[Donald E. Pauly]

Most of this portion of the recording that was played for the jury has not been published before. Steele made a bad mistake in threatening his hitman. If the recording is genuine as is nearly certain, it is incontrovertible proof that he had gone crazy. Steele clearly has planned his handling of the cops who he believes will come to report that Cyndi is dead. He couldn't come up with the necessary tears when they did come however.

http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/sentence/govmemo.pdf
..........
A few of Steele’s own words from transcripts of the June 9 and June 10, 2010 audio recordings, and his voice tones captured in the recorded conversations with Larry Fairfax, show he never had a change of heart. Steele says: “Go get, get this job done, Larry.” (6/9 Audio Recording Transcript, p. 3)

“I mean, you gotta get this job done, done. I mean seriously.” Id. “I want to give you a powerful incentive.” Id. “Larry I can count on you?” (6/9 Audio RecordingTr., p. 7)

“How can you be sure that its going to do the job? . . . Alright, well I’ll leave it up to you. I hope it works better than the last one.” Id. “Okay, I’m counting on it. I mean, Larry I am really up against it, it has to happen right now.” Id.

In response to Fairfax’s statement that he has everything lined up, Steele says again: “I’m counting on you.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 10)

“Well, you better not get your f------ ass caught. You get . . . caught over there pulling something like this . . . the trail comes right back to me and there ain’t, we’ll be sharing a cell together.” Id. In response to Fairfax question whether Steele had any second thoughts, Steele says: “No second, shit, have you seen a second thought . . . in me yet?” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., pp. 2-3)

“She gonna see you? ... You know I was watching something on TV, a guys wife got into an auto accident, she was turned into a paraplegic and he was left to take care of her the rest of her life with the kid kinda pitying him and he was, that he’s the one who had to do it. And I thought to myself that’d be awful. You know, ‘cause if I abandoned her at that point my kids would hate me forever, you know I couldn’t do that. I mean, this could actually become a much worse situation than it currently is. Do not, do not leave me like that.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 5)

“So that when that, so when that black and white pulls into my driveway I hope to God I can answer the door and seem normal. Because I won’t know whether they’re ta, they’re here to notify me or they’re here to take me away, because you f----- up and got yourself f-------caught, and then it got pinned on me. ‘Cause if Cindy takes one look at you she’ll know exactly what the f--- ‘s goin’ on.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 7)

“And I will lie myself out of it.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 8)

“But you make sure you get the f------ job done. The worst thing you could do is not get the job done. Get your ass caught and you’ll be f------ swinging out there ... and there won’t be anything I can do, except the best, to throw you to the f------ wolves.” Id. “I’m pissed off, but, I don’t want her to suffer and I don’t want her to realize as the lights are going out what’s happened. I’d like that not to happen . . . I’d like it to be a mystery or a surprise, or better yet, happen so fast she, that she’s not even aware of what’s going on. That’s the way I’d like it, okay?” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 9)

“. . . I want, I want this over with . . . No, there ain’t no second thoughts pal.” (6/10 Audio Recording Tr., p. 10)
.......

[Donald E. Pauly]

I was very disappointed in Cyndi's latest propaganda video. It is full of easily demonstrable lies. She whines about McAllister bungling the trial but doesn't tell us who selected the scumbag and how much that he was paid. He really had no great effect on the trial. Cyndi was the most damaging witness against her husband. Her divorce petition where she tried to take her husband for everything but the shirt on his back was the most damaging thing at trial. The jury couldn't have believed a word that she said.

If Steele wanted to play the game that he was framed, he would have had to claim that the steamy love letters from jail were forged. He would have also had to claim that the 14,000 emails to Ukrainian women were forged. Faced with those two smoking guns, only an insanity defense could have been successful.

Congressional Testimony: Cyndi Steele to Bill Windsor of Lawless America in Boise, Idaho - YouTube

Congressional Testimony: Cyndi Steele to Bill Windsor of Lawless America in Boise, Idaho - YouTube

[Donald E. Pauly]

I came across this visitor message on Stormfront on Steele's profile there. This poster called me back and told me that he had written Steele with no reply. He got no reply to this visitor message either.

I did the same thing in 2003 regarding the arrest of two Patriots in Yuma who had arrested a band of illegal aliens. Three messages on his answering machine got no reply either.

This is not much of a way to run a law practice to turn down paying customers. This visitor message was posted about five months before Steele's aorta ruptured.

http://www.stormfront.org/forum/member.php?u=37849
17 July, 2009

Dear Mr. Steele,

My name is Julian Lee. I live in Portland. I am seeking your advice about how to proceed, and where to look, to find a good lawyer in the area of defamation, libel, maybe harassment. The case has very strong White racial aspects. It involves public attacks against me (town plastered with flyers and my face saying "Nazi Trash in Your Neighborhood") by the Anti-Racist Action group, and the Willamette Weekly newspaper, a Jewish owned newspaper that has also gotten involved.I would really appreciate even a short consultation with you about it and would be willing to pay for that time on the phone as a lawyer, whatever you deem fit.You can easily get a sense of what's happening so far by going to www.WhiteID.com, and clicking the link "Message to the Citizens of Portland."

Sincerely,
Julian Lee
Portland, Oregon

[Donald E. Pauly]

This incident would probably have gotten Steele disbarred if it had been reported to the Idaho bar. This is from an established poster at Stormfront. The point is that Steele may not have been a living saint before he went crazy. This post was from a few days after his arrest.

http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t716987-12/#112
6-15-2010, 01:36PM
strelnikov
Lifetime
"Friend of Stormfront"
Sustaining Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Jungel Rot Florida
Posts: 2,025

Re: Edgar Steele "charged in murder-for-hire plot

I can't be overly sympathetic to the individual.Three years back when I needed legal advice (as a white nationalist) I sent Steel a short letter outling my problems and a $200 check to get his attention, (being he's a lawyer and all). Guess what. The check got cashed and that's all that happened. Narisistic personality?
__________________
I AM PLE

The old coyote senses danger and sinks into the prairie grass. He can not be seen but he watches and waits.

[Donald E. Pauly]

I am continuing my investigation into how White Nationalists were swindled out of over $122,000 in the Steele case. I find that Steele's webmaster is one of the officers of the corporation. He is Bob Magnuson AKA latebloomer. Deon Masker was one of Steele's clients in some kind of tax protester case. It is unlikely that there are two presidents. This must be a mistake.

http://www.sos.idaho.gov/servlet/Tra...__11297144.XML

No C 189043

DEON MASKER
6848 N GOVERNMENT WAY
DALTON GARDENS ID
83815

EDGAR STEELE DEFENSE FUND, LTD.
DEON MASKER
6848 N GOVERNMENT WAY #114-22
DALTON GARDENS ID 838153.

PRESIDENT
ALLEN BANKS
PO BOX 360
CAREYWOOD ID USA
83809

PRESIDENT
ROBERT MAGNUSON
2412 N HAMILTON
SPOKANE WA USA
99207

SECRETARY
DEON MASKER
6848 N GOVERNMENT WAY
DALTON GARDENS ID USA
83815

Signature:
Deon Masker
10/24/2011
Deon Masker Title: Secretary
Processed 10/24/2011

As expected, Cyndi has authority to pocket all of the loot that she wants. See http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/no.../tiffpilot.pdf . An attempt to find the IRS 501(c)(3) filing at http://www.guidestar.org/SearchResults.aspx for Edgar Steele Defense Fund produced no results. This same search page worked for a known legitimate organization. Perhaps no report was filed for all of the loot taken in.

[Donald E. Pauly]

The entire massive 2,000 page file on the trial and sentencing has been posted at http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele . The search engines have started to index it and soon it will be fully searchable online.

I missed the fact that Steele had written a HUGE number of letters to Tatyana which were never introduced into evidence. They started immediately after he was released from the hospital and kept going for six months until he was arrested. He had just got off nine days on the respirator. This proves that he was lying about working on a bride scam. None of these letters are in dispute. Check out this testimony by Cyndi. McAllister was Steele's scum sucking lawyer who has since pled guilty to multiple Federal felonies.

http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/day4.pdf

4-835-14
Q. Ma'am, your husband was writing to Ms. Loginova in January, February, March, April, May, and June. He had not ceased writing, had he?

A. No. And it was for the case, whether -- he told me he had stopped, which was right after his aneurysm, and then he picked it up --

Q. Mrs. Steele --

A. -- because he was going to pick it up as he felt better.

Q. Mrs. Steele, this is all based upon what your husband told you?

MR. McALLISTER: Objection, Your Honor. That misstates the testimony of this witness.

THE COURT: I'm going to allow the answer -- or the question to stand, but the witness can clarify if her assumptions are based upon anything else.
Why don't you rephrase the question for the witness.

BY MS. WHELAN:
Q. Ma'am, this is based upon what your husband told you, isn't it?

A. It is based on conversations we have had and what he told me.

Q. And in 2000, he was discovered on Match.com by you going into his computer?

A. Yes. And that was different.

[Donald E. Pauly]

Who says that there is no good news these days? The only thing that gladdens my heart more than watching a cop led off in handcuffs is watching a lawyer led off in handcuffs. (I make a rare exception in the Steele case.) The good news is that Steele's scum sucking lawyer is headed for prison. The bad news is that he will only serve six and a half years there. The U.S. Attorney forgot to mention that McAllister is a former Federal Prosecutor in Denver. It must have slipped his mind.

http://www.fbi.gov/denver/press-rele...inancial-fraud

Former Denver Attorney Sentenced for Financial Fraud
U.S. Attorney’s Office
September 14, 2012

District of Kansas
(316) 269-6481

DENVER—A former Denver attorney has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to financial fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. Prosecutors from Grissom’s office are serving as special counsel on the case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in Denver. Robert T. McAllister, 62, Denver, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit financial fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud.

In his plea, McAllister admitted that from 2006 to 2011 he conspired to obtain wire transfers totaling more than $1 million in a scheme to obtain funds that were subject to a temporary restraining order entered by U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh for the Eastern District of Missouri, and then to use that money for a down payment on a house on Kelsie Court in Clark, Colorado.

As part of the conspiracy, McAllister embezzled funds from a client that he had agreed to hold in trust in an interest bearing account. He transferred the stolen funds into accounts he controlled and into an account belonging to a title company. Part of the money was applied to a down payment on the Kelsie Court residence, which was being purchased by co-defendant Elizabeth Whitney from McAllister as a straw buyer. In an application for a loan to buy the property, Whitney falsely represented that she had a monthly income of more than $39,000.

To cover up the fact McAllister had embezzled client funds, he prepared a series of phony bank statements to give the impression the clients’ money was safe and earning interest. In March 2011, McAllister filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, containing materially false information, with intent to conceal the fact he was attempting to cause the bankruptcy court to transfer money he had previously embezzled.

A hearing on restitution in McAllister’s case is set for Oct. 9.

Sentencing for co-defendant Elizabeth Whitney, 59, Denver, has been continued to Oct. 9. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit financial fraud.

Grissom commended the IRS-Criminal Investigations, the FBI, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney for their work on the case. Hathaway and Kenney are serving as special counsel on the case.

[Donald E. Pauly]

Steele's scum sucking lawyer got his panties in a twist when I filed my Amicus Curiae motion in the case. It looks like that I am getting the last laugh. Here again is his reply to my motion. It will be at least six and a half years before he gets his law license back, if ever. It would be touching if he can share Steele's jail cell. They would have a lot to discuss about their individual cases.

From: Robert T McAllister
Date: Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 3:06 PM
Subject: RE: Amicus Curiae Motion to Vacate Sentence
To: "Donald E. Pauly"

Mr. Pauly

I am in receipt of your Amicus Curiae Motion. It contains numerous false statements. I will not address each of the false statements because I do not believe the Motion was prepared and/or filed in good faith. In reviewing the Motion it does not appear you are really interested in assisting Edgar Steele as opposed to advancing your own personal agenda. I stipulated to my disbarment from the practice of law because I violated the professional rules of conduct. However there was no theft of any funds nor has ant client or any person suffered a financial loss as a result of my actions. Your statement " that the Steele case would be the last one...[ I ] would ever try" is also misleading. I fully intend to re-gain my license at the appropriate time and continue to represent defendant's in criminal cases. In the interim I intend to do everything I possibly can to assist in the defense of Edgar Steele consistent with the rules of professional conduct.

R T McAllister

[Donald E. Pauly]

While there is no brain tumor in Steele's case, there are many similarities to this case. Steele has small patches of scar tissue where there used to be brain cells. Note that as in Steele's case, the patient was not a raving lunatic but still had crazy behavior in certain areas. Note that the tumor grew back and caused the symptoms to reoccur. When a larger area of tumor was removed the problem was fixed for the second time. This was no coincidence.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...le-tumor_x.htm

Posted 7/28/2003 6:46 AM Updated 7/28/2003 6:35 PM

Doctors say pedophile lost urge after brain tumor removed

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — There was something wrong with the schoolteacher with the headache — doctors could see that from the start.
Though charming and intelligent, the 40-year-old man couldn't stop leering at female nurses. He had been in trouble with the law for sexual advances toward his stepdaughter, and now he was talking about raping his landlady.

University of Virginia Medical Center neurologists Dr. Russell Swerdlow and Dr. Jeffrey Burns had never seen a case like this. The man had an egg-sized brain tumor pressing on the right frontal lobe. When surgeons removed it, the lewd behavior and pedophilia faded away. Exactly why, the surgeons cannot quite explain. "It's possible the tumor released some pre-existing urges," Burns said. "But that's a tough debate, we just don't know."

The outcome raises questions not only about how tumors alter brain function, but also how they can influence behavior and judgment.

Daniel T. Tranel, a University of Iowa neurology researcher, said he has seen people with brain tumors lie, damage property, and in extremely rare cases, commit murder. "The individual simply loses the ability to control impulses or anticipate the consequences of choices," Tranel said.

Dr. Stuart C. Yudofsky, a psychiatrist at the Baylor College of Medicine who specializes in behavioral changes associated with brain disorders, also has seen the way brain tumors can bend a person's behavior. "This tells us something about being human, doesn't it?" Yudofsky said. If one's actions are governed by how well the brain is working, "does it mean we have less free will than we think?"

It's a question with vast implications in the criminal justice system. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that executing mentally retarded murderers is unconstitutionally cruel because of their diminished ability to reason and control their urges.

Chris Adams, a death penalty specialist for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, thinks the next logical step would be to include people who have brain tumors. "Some people simply don't have the frontal lobe capacity to stop what they're doing," he said.

Human behavior is governed by complex interactions within the brain. But scientists think most "executive functions" — decisions with major consequences — are controlled within the frontal lobes, the most highly evolved section of the brain. Tumors in that area can squeeze enough blood from the region to effectively put it to sleep, dulling someone's judgment in a way that's similar to drinking too much alcohol.

Only in very rare cases would the tumor turn the person to violence or deviant behavior on its own, Tranel said.

Dr. Patrick J. Kelly, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at New York University Medical Center, said he's never seen a tumor turn someone into a pedophile. "I've seen them make people hyperactive, forgetful, apathetic," Kelly said. "And it usually takes a fairly extensive tumor to do that ... the size of an orange maybe."

The Virginia schoolteacher with the tumor didn't respond to written interview requests by The Associated Press made through his doctors. But according to his case report, which Swerdlow and Burns wrote in the Archives of Neurology, the man didn't remember having abnormal sexual urges for most of his life. In 2000, the man began collecting sex magazines and visiting pornographic Web sites, focusing much of his attention on images of children and adolescents.

Eventually he couldn't stop himself, telling doctors "the pleasure principle overrode" everything else. When he started making subtle advances on his young stepdaughter, his wife called police. He was arrested for child molestation. The man was convicted and failed a 12-step rehabilitation program for sexual addiction because he couldn't stop asking for sex favors, according to the case report.

The day before he was to be sentenced to prison, the man walked into the emergency room with a headache. He was distraught, Swerdlow said, and was contemplating suicide. He also was "totally unable to control his impulses," Burns said. "He'd proposition nurses."

An MRI revealed the tumor, and it was cut out days later. The man's behavior began to improve. Swerdlow said the judge allowed him to complete a Sexaholics Anonymous program. The man eventually moved back home with his wife and stepdaughter.

About a year later, Swerdlow said, the tumor partially grew back and the man started to collect pornography again. He had another operation last year, and his urges again subsided. "That's one of the interesting things about frontal lobe damage," Swerdlow said. "This guy, he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he thought there wasn't anything wrong with him, and he didn't stop."

[Donald E. Pauly]

It is too bad that Steele's webmaster got his panties in a twist and stormed off. We need him. Is the Steele camp withholding important information from us? They have refused to publish an accounting of where the over $122,000 went that they collected. Who knows what other shenanigans of theirs might be in progress?

Several days ago one of my correspondents who knows Steele rather well reported that they had written him by snail mail in February with no reply. They had several exchanges with him before sentencing.

April Gaede told me today that she wrote him about March with no reply. She had several exchanges with Steele before sentencing. He had served as her attorney and knows her well.

The lack of replies in both these cases is most unusual. There is no published communication from him since he was sentenced in November. Is he still alive? The BOP website shows him in Victorville prison but there is no proof of this.

I am concerned that his mental condition has continued to deteriorate and he may now be a virtual vegetable. While there were plenty of signs of his insanity in his jail communications prior to sentencing, at least he was not a total basket case. Both of his letters to me were from 2 and a half years ago well before his trial. Anyone who has any snail mail from him since his sentencing last November should post the details.

[Donald E. Pauly]

Steele's 87 page appeal has been filed on the last possible day. It is posted at http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/appeal/open.pdf . I haven't had time to read it completely but it seems to be largely a rehash of points already made. It seems doomed.

[Donald E. Pauly]

This is the introduction to Steele's appeal. It is mostly a reheating of leftovers from the motion for a new trial which was denied. Since Steele was an experienced trial lawyer, he will have a difficult burden to establish that he didn't know what was going on. If it can only be introduced that he went crazy from aorta surgery it will be easy. Further traditional legal appeals are doomed to failure.

http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/appeal/open.pdf .

INTRODUCTION
This appeal aims at ensuring that a demonstrably unreliable fact-finding
process at trial does not doom a citizen to spend the remainder of his life in prison
based on a flawed conviction. The government charged defendant Edgar Steele, a renowned Idaho defense attorney known for taking on controversial and unpopular causes, with hiring Larry Fairfax, a handyman, to carry out the murder of Steele’s wife by using and possessing an explosive and a destructive device.

Fairfax at some point came to authorities with a story that implicated Steele and falsely exonerated himself. The accusation could not be reconciled with Steele’s past actions or character, but the government was able to build a persuasive case against him by relying on recordings of conversations between Steele and Fairfax, purportedly made by the
latter at law enforcement’s direction.

The single most important defense challenge to the prosecution’s case rested
on the contention that these recordings were, in their most damning passages,
fabricated. Robert McAllister, defendant’s trial counsel, retained a distinguished
and qualified forensic expert who was prepared to testify to precisely this effect.

The defense thereafter laid the foundation required by the trial judge to introduce
this expert evidence, but, as a result of his patent incompetence, McAllister failed
to secure the expert’s presence at trial. The district court both recognized the
critical nature of the expert testimony of which defendant had been deprived and
chastised defense counsel for his deficient performance in failing to gain its
admission.

After Steele’s conviction, substitute defense counsel timely moved for a
new trial alleging, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”)
based on McAllister’s egregious failures. The district court, however,
misconstrued governing procedural law, thereby abusing its discretion, in
concluding that a viable claim of IAC made in a new trial motion filed prior to
judgment could not be considered until after Steele’s appeal.

In the meantime, and following the judgment below, a host of other facts
surfaced bearing on trial counsel’s deficient performance, all of which would have
been subject to exploration had the IAC claim been developed and heard by the
district court. These facts were shocking: throughout the time that he represented
Steele before, during, and after trial, Steele’s trial counsel had been under
investigation and/or indictment for serious federal crimes and the subject of state
disbarment proceedings. The government concealed all such matters for the
duration of the district court proceedings at Steele’s trial. Immediately after the
judgment against Steele was entered, however, the government announced its case
against McAllister, unsealing and trumpeting the indictment against him.
McAllister has since been convicted and disbarred.

In light of the above, including the district court’s abuse of discretion,
defendant is entitled to an order remanding the matter for an evidentiary hearing
on his claim of trial counsel’s IAC which, if established, will invalidate all counts
of conviction encompassed by the judgment below. There is simply no plausible
reason why such a hearing, timely and properly requested prior to that judgment,
should be deferred any longer.

Furthermore, and putting aside its post-judgment error as to defendant’s
claim of IAC, the district court committed other serious errors in its final
instructions to the jury, which errors likewise undermine the reliability of Steele’s
convictions. Specifically, the lower court committed plain error when it failed to
require juror unanimity as to (1) the factual basis for the allegation, set forth in
three counts, that Steele caused another to engage in interstate travel to complete
the alleged plot, and (2) the factual basis for the allegation, alleged in one count,
that Steele used an explosive device to accomplish this end.

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

The district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. The judgment
below was appealable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The district court’s judgment
was entered on November 14, 2011. A notice of appeal was filed on November
16, 2011. The appeal is timely.

BAIL STATUS

Appellant-defendant Steele is incarcerated in the Victorville Federal
Correctional Complex in Adelanto, California. His estimated release date is
January 1, 2054.

[Donald E. Pauly]

Point #1 was largely dealt with when the 9th Circuit refused to summarily order the trial court to consider the issue of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.

Point #2 is a weaselly lawyer trick over jury instructions and has nothing to do with the facts of the case.

Point #3 is another similar weaselly lawyer trick.

This appeal is a waste of time and money and is doomed. Two years from now it will be denied. Steel could be out of prison in a month with an insanity plea.

http://steelewentcrazy.org/steele/appeal/open.pdf
ISSUES PRESENTED

I. DID THE DISTRICT COURT ERR IN DENYING THE DEFENDANT
AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON HIS CLAIM OF INEFFECTIVE
ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL, WHICH HAD BEEN TIMELY
PRESENTED IN A MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL?

II. DID THE DISTRICT COURT COMMIT PLAIN ERROR WHEN IT
FAILED TO REQUIRE THE JURY TO UNANIMOUSLY AGREE ON
THE FACTUAL BASIS FOR THE “INTERSTATE TRAVEL”
ELEMENT OF THE CRIMES CHARGED IN COUNTS ONE, TWO,
AND THREE?

III. DID THE DISTRICT COURT COMMIT PLAIN ERROR WHEN IT
FAILED TO REQUIRE A UNANIMOUS VERDICT AS TO THE
OBJECT OF THE ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN COUNT TWO?.

[Peter Keating]

You should create a website called www.steelewentinsane.com

[Donald E. Pauly]

Originally Posted by Peter Keating

You should create a website called www.steelewentinsane.com

There are many more diplomatic names possible. I picked this one to better show Cyndi and Steele's lawyers that I meant business. There is really no nice way to say this considering the monstrous fraud that has been perpetrated on White Nationalism by this bunch. Of course Steele is not to blame because he went crazy. His lawyers will get his last ounce of silver and leave him in worse shape than if he had taken the plea bargain that the public defender wanted to get him. He would already have been out of prison by now for free.

[notmenomore]

Originally Posted by Donald E. Pauly

There are many more diplomatic names possible. I picked this one to better show Cyndi and Steele's lawyers that I meant business. There is really no nice way to say this considering the monstrous fraud that has been perpetrated on White Nationalism by this bunch. Of course Steele is not to blame because he went crazy. His lawyers will get his last ounce of silver and leave him in worse shape than if he had taken the plea bargain that the public defender wanted to get him. He would already have been out of prison by now for free.

Refresh our memory: what was the deal that was offered?

[Donald E. Pauly]

Originally Posted by notmenomore

Refresh our memory: what was the deal that was offered?

Steele claimed in one of his rants that his public defender wanted to negotiate a plea bargain. Steele refused to do so. The public defender was free, which was about what he was worth. The other lawyers had a negative worth.