---
category: Other
summary: Connecticut businessman and TransCapital employee involved in C-130 aircraft
  sales to Iran and indicted alongside Ari Ben-Menashe.
tags:
- Person
---

[Richard St. Francis](/people/richard-st-francis/) was a businessman from Connecticut who worked for [TransCapital Corporation](/organizations/transcapital-corporation/), a firm licensed to sell computer hardware used for the [PROMIS](/programs/promis/) program. He was involved in arms deals, particularly concerning the sale of C-130 aircraft to [Iran](/places/iran/).[^1]

In April 1989, [St. Francis](/people/richard-st-francis/) was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to [Tehran](/places/iran/), working with [Joseph O'Toole](/people/joseph-otoole/) and [Mike Timpani](/people/mike-timpani/). This deal was intended to be a go-between for [Israel](/places/israel/) and [Iran](/places/iran/). He was also the person who brought the mysterious "Lettner" (later identified as [John Lisica](/people/john-lisica/), an undercover [U.S. Customs Service](/organizations/us-customs/) agent) to Kennedy Airport to meet [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/), as part of a sting operation.[^1]

[St. Francis](/people/richard-st-francis/) was arrested in April 1989 and later indicted for conspiracy to defraud the [United States](/places/united-states/), cover up illegal dealings, and attempt to sell three planes to [Iran](/places/iran/) in violation of federal laws. He was a co-defendant with [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) in the trial, though his case was later severed.[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.