2 ITT EXECUTIVES FACE TRIAL FOR LYING IN '73 CHILE PROBE

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP99-00498R000100130007-3
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RIPPUB
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K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 20, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 13, 2007
Sequence Number: 
7
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Publication Date: 
March 21, 1978
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OPEN SOURCE
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N ARTICLE :f1PPr,ARFA STAT pproved For Release 2007/06/14: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100130007-3 ecufivie:;s Face Tvial I 2 ITT-,-Ex- :.ror Lying.in '73 Chile rrabe By Edward T. Pound Washington Star Staff Writer Two officials of the International Telephone and Telegraph Corp. have been accused in criminal complaints of lying to a Senate subcommittee five years ago in connection with ITT's activities in the 1970 Chilean presidential election. Attorney General Griffin B. Bell yesterday announced the4 filing of criminal "informations" in? U.S. Dis- trict Court here against Edward .J. Gerrity Jr., 54, an ITT senior vice president, and Robert Berrellez, 53, who was an ITT Latin American offi- cial in the early 1970s. He is now Southwest regional manager for pub- lic relations and civil affairs for the conglomerate. ITT Chairman Harold S., Geneen, t who also was a prospective target of ,the lengthy _ Justice Department investigation, was not charged. The department said in a statement, THE FELONY COUNTS dealing with the ITT officials' Senate testi- mony were filed as the five-year stat- ute of limitations neared expiration. However, the statute was not in jeop- ardy on the arbitration hearing testimony, department officials said. Acting Deputy Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti, when asked why the department decided not to prosecute Geneen, said he had no comment on Geneen but added: - "As a general proposition, the de- partment brings cases where.-we have the facts to support the charges and meet the legal standards."-. - 'Civiletti declined to say whether the department would plea-bargain with Gerrity and Berrellez, as it had done in the case involving former CIA Director Richard M. Helms. Civiletti noted,'however, that it was "standard practice" for the depart- ment to engage in "plea negotia- tions" with defendants.- ? . moreover, that "no other actions ... I One department source said he are contemnlatedi " . understood that Gerrity and Ber MOST OF THE CHARGES against Gerrity and Berrellez grew out of their testimony in 1973 before the Senate Foreign Relations subcom- mittee on multinational corporations. Ger.een also testified before the panel. ? rellez have "been given the oppor- tunity to make the strongest case they have, with the realization that we have a pretty strong case. I don't think it's to the point of any real plea- baraain. At this point, I'd say it's 1ikeTy to go to trial." =.The department last fall accepted ai "no contest" plea from Helms to At the time; the subcommittee was misdemeanor charges that he lied i nvestigating whether ITT collabo- rated with the CIA in an attempt to block the 1970 election of Marxist Salvador Allende as, president' of Chile. Geneen and Gerrity denied that any ITT money was funneled to Allende's opponents to. prevent his election. Gerri up to 30 years in prison and $23,000 in fines, according to the Justice De- partment. Berrellez also could get 30 years in prison and faces $31,000 in fines. He lives in Chatsworth, Calif. HAROLD V. HENDRIX, 54, the former ITT director of public rela- tions in Latin America, figures in both criminal cases. The Justice Department charged that Gerrity induced Hendrix to lie to the subcommitte on multinational corporations five years ago. Further. the department said, Berrellez con- spired with Hendrix, among others, to obstruct the subcommittee's probe into whether ITT was collaborating with the CIA to prevent. Allende's election. ? _ Hendrix has been cooperating with federal prosecutors in the investiga- tion since he pleaded guilty in November 1976 to a misdemeanor charge of withholding information from the subcommittee.. While Gerrity and Berrellez could not be reached for comment, an ITT -.spokesman said the company was confident its two executives would be cleared. He said: "These charges follow months of grand jury testimony and appear- ances and at all times our executives have cooperated and have had the full support and backing of the corpo- ration. ITT knows of no reason why their testimony would have been other than truthful and ITT continues to have confidence in Mr. Gerrity's and Mr. Berrellez' integrity. They both continue to serve as valued executives of ITT... -" BELL'S DECISION to prosecute the company officials was hailed by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., who last fall expressed concern over the Jus- tice Department's handling of .the Helms case. . . , Biden, chairman of Intelligence Committee's subcommittee on secrecy and disclosure, said Bell's decision "is a signal the Justice De- partment is no longer willing to throw up its hands anrforgo prosecu- tion in sensitive national security, cases." He said the ITT case "illustrates that the threat of disclosure of na- tional secrets need not always thwart or severely limit prosecution of these kinds of cases."._ Biden's subcommittee'--recently: studied 40 cases in which the Justice' Department declined prosecutions' because of concern that national se-! crets would be exposed. In 1975, however, the Senate Intel- ligence Committee disclosed that after the intelligence community both the CIA and ITT had given argued that a criminal trial could money to Allende's opponents. ITT disclose national security secrets. feared that its Chilean holdings Department sources. confirmed: might be expropriated by Allende, yesterday that CIA Director Stans- who won mile- election but was.killed field Turner met Thursday with Bell in a 1973 military coup. to express similar concerns about Gerrity and Berrellez were each prosecution of ITT officials. named in six felony counts and both Helms, as part of his plea bargain were accused of perjury and ob- arrangement, agreed to testify stru cting governmental proceedings- "truthfully" if called before the in connection with their Senate testi- federal grand jury investigating the ' mony. ITT officials. -He reportedly did They also were accused of lying testify. The grand jury had been about ITT's activities in Chile during hearin evidence in the case for two a June 1974 arbitration hearing in- years, but its term expired in Febru- volving a dispute with the Overseas ary.?_ Justice Department officials Private Investment Corp., '.a 'U.S. said both. Gerrity and . Berrellez agency. waived their rights to grand jury con- sideration, permitting the charges to ._be filed as criminal informations. i Approved For Release 2007/06/14: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100130007-3 during 1973 Senate inquiries into possible CIA intervention in the 1970 Chilean presidential election. He was charged with lying to two Senate panels, including the subcommittee on multinational corporations. Helms received _no prison. term and was