Eugene H. Hasenfus (born January 22, 1941) is a former United States Marine who helped fly weapons shipments on behalf of the U.S. government to the right wing rebel Contras in Nicaragua. The sole survivor after his plane was shot down by the Nicaraguan government in 1986, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for terrorism and other charges, but pardoned and released the same year. The statements of admission he made to the Sandinista government resulted in a controversy in the U.S. government, after the Reagan administration denied any connection to him. Personal life Eugene Hasenfus was born on January 22, 1941. In 1986, he lived in Marinette, Wisconsin. The U.S. army described him as having joined the Marine Corps in May 1960 and having spent five years in the corps before receiving an honorable discharge. At the time of his capture, he was married to Sally Hasenfus. He had a brother named William. Contra scandal Capture On October 5, 1986, Hasenfus was aboard a Fairchild C-123 cargo plane, N4410F, when it was shot down over Nicaragua by the Sandinista government with a Soviet SA-7 surface-to-air missile. The aircraft was brought down when it was approximately north of the border with Costa Rica, and a little over southeast of Managua, Nicaragua's capital and largest city. The plane had been flying weapons to the anti-Sandinista Contra rebels, including 50,000 rifle cartridges for the Soviet-made AK-47, 60 collapsible AK-47s, nearly as many RPG-7's, and 150 pairs of jungle boots. Three members of the flight crew were killed: Hasenfus was the only survivor. The two pilots and a Nicaraguan radio operator died in the crash. Hasenfus had been wearing a parachute, unusual for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives at the time. Hasenfus managed to dive out of the open cargo hatch of the plane after it was hit by the Nicaraguan missile; he was later captured while sleeping in a makeshift hammock made from his parachute. CIA links After he was captured by the Nicaraguan government, he stated at a press conference that he had previously dropped supplies to CIA agents in Southeast Asia, and that flights into Nicaragua were directly supervised by the CIA. His statement also included his recruitment by a friend in the CIA, an operation based in Ilopango airbase in El Salvador, supported by U.S. army colonel James Steele. The CIA and the U.S. government of Ronald