Oliver North shredding government documents related to these activities at William Casey's suggestion when the Iran-Contra scandal became public. He also testified that Robert McFarlane had asked him to alter official records to delete references to direct assistance to the Contras and that he had helped. North was tried in 1988. He was indicted on 16 felony counts, and on May 4, 1989, he was initially convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and ordering the destruction of documents through his secretary, Fawn Hall. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard
Robert Earl (U.S. Marine) during their careers. During the George W. Bush presidency, Earl was appointed as chief of staff to acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England. Robert Earl (U.S. Marine) Robert Earl was a United States Marine lieutenant colonel and a deputy to Oliver North at the National Security Agency during the early 1980s. Earl graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1967. He was also a Rhodes Scholar. Earl is most famous for being involved with the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal supply effort and participated in the destruction of records. He was granted immunity for his testimony. Oliver North had been a