AYFR
11-28-2007, 06:56 AM
NEW YORK - Prosecutors called him a conniving businessman whose conduct contributed to the fog of corruption that enveloped the U.N. oil-for-food program. But a federal judge saw Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. as an extraordinary man driven to break the program's rules because of his strong dislike for U.S. policy in Iraq. ADVERTISEMENT
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin sentenced the 83-year-old Wyatt on Tuesday to a year and a day in prison — less than the year and a half to two years to which Wyatt had agreed when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy last month. Wyatt also agreed to forfeit $11 million.
The judge cited Wyatt's age, military service during World War II and heartfelt letters sent to the court on his behalf, including notes from members of Congress, police chiefs, mayors, even actress Farrah Fawcett.
But Chin noted: "There's little doubt in my mind that he broke the law."
Before pleading guilty on the 12th day of his trial, Wyatt had insisted he never paid an illegal surcharge to the Iraqi government to win oil contracts.
He cried as he addressed the court Tuesday, saying he "would never do anything to hurt my country." He said he could not remain silent when he believed his country was doing something wrong.
The judge said evidence showed Wyatt had paid at least $8 million to Iraqi officials to get an unfair share of contracts connected to the U.N. oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
The program permitted the Iraqi government to sell oil primarily to buy food and medicine for its suffering citizens. It was meant to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions, but authorities said the program was corrupted when Iraqi officials began demanding illegal surcharges in return for contracts to buy Iraqi oil.
At trial, the government introduced evidence that Wyatt used an energy company he founded, Coastal Corp., to buy crude oil from Iraq in the decades leading up to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
After the invasion, Wyatt maintained a close relationship with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to guarantee his continued access to Iraqi oil, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors had argued against leniency for Wyatt, criticizing his "breathtakingly immoral" actions. The government claimed Wyatt was in a unique position to dissuade Iraq from corrupting the scheme.
Wyatt lawyer Gerald Shargel had described his client as an American hero, a self-made businessman who built a successful oil company and helped thousands of people before making "a very, very, very, very regrettable mistake in judgment."
Shargel said blame for the corrupt oil-for-food-program "can't be placed solely at the door of Mr. Wyatt."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward O'Callaghan responded by saying Wyatt went to Baghdad in January 2001 and suggested to officials there how they could have a "surcharge scheme without it being obvious." The prosecutor said Wyatt kept pushing for more oil until February 2003, a month before the U.S. invaded Iraq.
In explaining his lenient sentence, Chin outlined Wyatt's hardworking life, noting that he was picking cotton in Texas at age 12 and flying crop-dusting planes by age 15.
In World War II, Wyatt flew dozens of bomber missions for the United States, and his plane was shot down twice, the judge said.
He said he was most struck by letters from average Americans who cited acts of kindness as simple as a hug for a restaurant worker whose spouse had died.
Among the letters was one from Roger B. Smith, retired chairman of General Motors Corp., and Fawcett, who wrote that Wyatt helped her father get oil contracts when she was a girl in Corpus Christi, Texas.
When Wyatt rescued American hostages from Iraq just before the first Gulf War, he not only personally went to Iraq but paid for family members to meet the plane, Chin said.
The judge said "big oil companies may have gotten off easy" with their own surcharge payments for Iraqi oil, but he believed politics and vendettas played no role in the prosecution of Wyatt.
Wyatt's lifetime of selfless deeds made it "difficult figuring out what went wrong and why Mr. Wyatt did this," Chin said.
He said Wyatt's statement to the court offered a clue, indicating his "opinions about Iraq caused him to skirt too close to the line."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_re_us/oil_for_food_wyatt;_ylt=Ag9jZXfW7aMdMLUZqyc2hAJvzw cF
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin sentenced the 83-year-old Wyatt on Tuesday to a year and a day in prison — less than the year and a half to two years to which Wyatt had agreed when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy last month. Wyatt also agreed to forfeit $11 million.
The judge cited Wyatt's age, military service during World War II and heartfelt letters sent to the court on his behalf, including notes from members of Congress, police chiefs, mayors, even actress Farrah Fawcett.
But Chin noted: "There's little doubt in my mind that he broke the law."
Before pleading guilty on the 12th day of his trial, Wyatt had insisted he never paid an illegal surcharge to the Iraqi government to win oil contracts.
He cried as he addressed the court Tuesday, saying he "would never do anything to hurt my country." He said he could not remain silent when he believed his country was doing something wrong.
The judge said evidence showed Wyatt had paid at least $8 million to Iraqi officials to get an unfair share of contracts connected to the U.N. oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
The program permitted the Iraqi government to sell oil primarily to buy food and medicine for its suffering citizens. It was meant to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions, but authorities said the program was corrupted when Iraqi officials began demanding illegal surcharges in return for contracts to buy Iraqi oil.
At trial, the government introduced evidence that Wyatt used an energy company he founded, Coastal Corp., to buy crude oil from Iraq in the decades leading up to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
After the invasion, Wyatt maintained a close relationship with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to guarantee his continued access to Iraqi oil, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors had argued against leniency for Wyatt, criticizing his "breathtakingly immoral" actions. The government claimed Wyatt was in a unique position to dissuade Iraq from corrupting the scheme.
Wyatt lawyer Gerald Shargel had described his client as an American hero, a self-made businessman who built a successful oil company and helped thousands of people before making "a very, very, very, very regrettable mistake in judgment."
Shargel said blame for the corrupt oil-for-food-program "can't be placed solely at the door of Mr. Wyatt."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward O'Callaghan responded by saying Wyatt went to Baghdad in January 2001 and suggested to officials there how they could have a "surcharge scheme without it being obvious." The prosecutor said Wyatt kept pushing for more oil until February 2003, a month before the U.S. invaded Iraq.
In explaining his lenient sentence, Chin outlined Wyatt's hardworking life, noting that he was picking cotton in Texas at age 12 and flying crop-dusting planes by age 15.
In World War II, Wyatt flew dozens of bomber missions for the United States, and his plane was shot down twice, the judge said.
He said he was most struck by letters from average Americans who cited acts of kindness as simple as a hug for a restaurant worker whose spouse had died.
Among the letters was one from Roger B. Smith, retired chairman of General Motors Corp., and Fawcett, who wrote that Wyatt helped her father get oil contracts when she was a girl in Corpus Christi, Texas.
When Wyatt rescued American hostages from Iraq just before the first Gulf War, he not only personally went to Iraq but paid for family members to meet the plane, Chin said.
The judge said "big oil companies may have gotten off easy" with their own surcharge payments for Iraqi oil, but he believed politics and vendettas played no role in the prosecution of Wyatt.
Wyatt's lifetime of selfless deeds made it "difficult figuring out what went wrong and why Mr. Wyatt did this," Chin said.
He said Wyatt's statement to the court offered a clue, indicating his "opinions about Iraq caused him to skirt too close to the line."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_re_us/oil_for_food_wyatt;_ylt=Ag9jZXfW7aMdMLUZqyc2hAJvzw cF