Ousama Naaman, the only individual to face criminal charges in the United States for the Innospec bribery scandal, could have his thirty-month prison term shortened by a year or more.
Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle gave Naaman credit for time served in her final judgment imposing his thirty-month prison sentence. She signed the order on March 22.
Naaman, now 62, spent nearly a year in jail in Germany before his extradition to the United States. He also spent another seven months under strict conditions of release in the U.S.
Judge Huvelle didn’t specify how much time-served credit Naaman should receive against his thirty-month sentence.
She recommended that he serve his time in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. There are low and medium security jails there. She set his report date for prison as ‘no sooner than April 22, 2012.’
Naaman, a dual citizen of Canada and Lebanon, was a sales agent in Iraq for Delaware-based Innospec for about a decade. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to conspiracy and violating the FCPA. He admitted paying more than $3 million to officials at Iraq’s Ministry of Oil and the Trade Bank of Iraq to win sales of Innospec’s gasoline additives.
After his extradition from Germany, Naaman cooperated with U.S. enforcement agencies. As part of his plea deal, the DOJ agreed to help him secure a transfer to a Canadian jail to serve out his eventual prison sentence.
Judge Huvelle’s March 22 judgment didn’t mention a transfer to a Canadian jail.
But Judge Huvelle, who sits in the federal district court in Washington, D.C., delayed signing Naaman’s judgment for more than two months after she sentenced him. The delay was unusual; a criminal defendant can’t be processed into the federal prison system until his or her judgment is signed.
Naaman’s lawyer filed a motion right after his sentencing that may signal efforts to transfer him to a Canadian prison.
The motion said,
Pursuant to this Court’s request, Mr. Naaman makes this filing to express his consent to the Court delaying the entry of a judgment as to his sentence. Mr. Naaman appreciates the efforts of the Court, the Department of Justice and his counsel to work toward carrying out the terms of the sentence as handed down by the Court and understands that this process may take some time.
Judge Huvelle ‘sealed’ her statement of reasons for Naaman’s judgment. Documents under seal cannot be seen by the public.
The U.S. federal bureau of prisons lists Naaman (register # 31056-016) but shows his location as ‘not in BOP custody.’
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