Closing an FBI Crime Case

A message to the bureau about constitutional rights

In a packed federal courtroom in Washington last week, the many retired FBI agents on hand chorused an audible sigh of relief. That was when Judge William Bryant announced the sentences for two former top agents convicted on Nov. 6 for their roles in approving illegal break-ins during the Nixon Administration in the early 1970s. Found by a jury to have conspired to violate citizens' Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, W. Mark Felt, 67, who had been the FBI's deputy director, and Edward S. Miller, 52, once its chief of domestic intelligence, could have been given ten years and $10,000 fines. But Bryant chose not to jail them. Instead he fined Felt $5,000 and Miller $3,500.

The sentencing came after the Justice Department dropped the charge against a co-conspirator in the case, L. Patrick Gray III, acting FBI director from May 1972 to April 1973, and also ended a five-year probe aimed at scores of FBI men suspected of abusing their power. That effort grew out of the bureau's drive to track down the 30 or more known members of the Weather Underground, a left-wing group responsible for dozens of Viet Nam-era bombings. A New York City-based FBI unit called Squad 47 broke into the homes of innocent relatives and friends of the fugitive radicals seeking clues to their whereabouts. Sometimes dressed as telephone repairmen, they would pick locks or buy keys from landlords and, once inside, photograph diaries, letters and other documents. The burglaries would be cleared in advance with Miller, who got approval from Felt. Though Squad 47 conducted at least 20 such "black-bag jobs," the sleuthing did not turn up any Weather Underground people, although some have voluntarily surfaced in the past months.

Though the Justice probe of unconstitutional acts implicated 68 present or former FBI agents, more than half got immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation; cases against nine others were scrapped, and six received token administrative punishment. The charge against Gray, 64, was dropped because key witnesses changed their stories before trial, and damaging testimony expected in the Felt-Miller proceedings never materialized. Gray called the prosecution "malicious" and said he might sue the Government to recover his six-figure legal fees and to get compensation for the harm he has suffered. He, Felt and Miller can count on some aid from an ex-agents' organization that has raised more than $1 million to pay their lawyers' bills.

Gray, who left the FBI after reports of his involvement in the destruction of Watergate evidence (specifically, the burning of files removed from Howard Hunt's office safe), was the scapegoat for Felt and Miller in their trial. They insisted that he had authorized the break-ins. To try to prove that Gray had that power, defense lawyers put five former Attorneys General and Richard Nixon on the stand. Though Judge Bryant did not explain his sentences, he may have decided that what Felt called the "serious blemish" of conviction was nearly ample punishment. Bryant, says Deputy Attorney General Charles Renfrew, "apparently felt that they had been punished and that the message had gone out that constitutional rights would be protected, even from those at the highest level."

Despite the good news last week, the legal battles are far from over for Felt and Miller. They plan to appeal and, more important, they must prepare for a string of civil suits brought by those whose homes were broken into.

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