AP - Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the U.N. oil-for-food program.
Wyatt told the judge in federal court in Manhattan that he agreed in December 2001 to advise others to pay a surcharge into an Iraqi account in Jordan in violation of a rule calling for no direct payments to Iraq.
The plea deal calls for Wyatt, 83, to be sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison, unless the judge decides otherwise. He also has agreed to forfeit $11 million.
The U.N. oil-for-food program, set up to finance Iraqi imports of necessities, became corrupted in 2000 when Iraqi officials began demanding illegal surcharges in return for contracts to buy Iraqi oil. The program ran from 1996 to 2003.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt told a federal judge Monday that he wanted to plead guilty to charges that he paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the United Nations oil-for-food program.
Wyatt, 83, of Houston, is on trial in U.S. District Court on charges that he dealt illegally with Iraqis throughout the 1990s and later, taking advantage of a long relationship with Iraq to score advantages in oil deals.
The U.N. oil-for-food program ran from 1996 to 2003.
