Airman pleads guilty on drug charges

  • Published
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing legal office
A senior airman from the 92nd Mission Support Squadron was convicted Jan. 5 of selling ecstasy and LSD to a female who turned out to be an undercover informant for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, in a court-martial trial that was Fairchild's first of 2007.

Senior Airman Steven Harangi pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, one count of possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute, and one count of possession of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also referred to as acid. A panel of officer members sentenced him to a dishonorable discharge, three years confinement, and reduction to the rank of E-1.

In pleading guilty, Airman Harangi admitted to having sold ecstasy multiple times to a female acquaintance that, it turned out, was an undercover informant for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Notably, the evidence showed that on one occasion, Airman Harangi actually refused to sell the informant LSD which he had in his possession. However, what he ultimately intended to do with the LSD was not established.

Airman Harangi was apprehended by local law enforcement in December 2005, in a sting operation conducted in cooperation with AFOSI. Police found ten ecstasy pills and four tabs of LSD in Airman Harangi's car at the time of his arrest.

During the sentencing hearing, AFOSI Special Agent Dan Johnson was called to testify by Airman Harangi's defense attorney, Capt. Sean Armentrout.

Johnson told the court members about how Airman Harangi became an AFOSI informant himself following his arrest and how Airman Harangi's work as an informant led to the arrest and conviction of a local off-base drug dealer.

Later, during Captain Armentrout's sentencing argument, he emphasized the risks Airman Harangi faced by becoming an informant and how he agreed to do so without a plea bargain. Captain Armentrout argued that the fact that Airman Harangi confessed to his crimes and agreed to work for AFOSI as an informant showed good character.

"Airman Harangi cooperated and worked and continued on this path...doing everything in his power to turn [his life] around and rectify it," the captain said.

Air Force prosecutor, Capt. John Bacevicius, on the other hand, emphasized Airman Harangi's motivation for becoming an informant. When asked by Captain Bacevicius about the female informant that helped AFOSI gather evidence on Airman Harangi, Special Agent Johnson made clear she had no criminal history and was not recruited as a result of being apprehended. According to Captain Bacevicius, Airman Harangi was, in contrast, "backed into a corner and was trying to save his own neck and make himself look good."

Indeed, arguing before the members, Captain Bacevicius left no doubt that the prosecution viewed Airman Harangi as a drug dealer.

"This is a fact," he told the court.

The defense, however, argued that this was a mischaracterization. "This is not an episode of Law and Order; this is not the movies. [Airman Harangi's] not out there on a street corner dealing drugs," argued Captain Armentrout. Defense counsel pointed out that Airman Harangi sold the informant drugs believing she was a friend and that he charged her the same price for the drugs that he paid for them. "How much profit [did he make]? Zero!"

On rebuttal, Captain Bacevicius stated simply: "Giving drugs in exchange for money makes you a drug dealer." In the end, the panel of officer members deliberated for almost to two hours before announcing their sentence.

The next court-martial at Fairchild is Jan. 25. Proceedings begin at 8:30 a.m. in the courtroom located in the Legal Office in the Wing Headquarters Building.