The Plea Bargaining Blog

Fiat has agreed to pay a $7 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to officials of the former Iraqi government by three of its subsidiaries. According to the DOJ , the company will pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the government. Criminal informations were filed today against three Fiat subsidiaries in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Iveco S.p.A. (Iveco) and CNH Italia S.p.A. (CNH Italia) were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). CNH France S.A. (CNH France) was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Fiat has acknowledged responsibility for the actions of its three subsidiaries, Iveco, CNH Italia and CNH France, whose employees and agents made improper payments to the former Iraqi government in order to obtain contracts with Iraqi ministries to provide industrial pumps, gears and other equipment. The agreement ...

According to the Associated Press , Siemens AG will plead guilty to settle corruption charges brought by the United States Department of Justice. The charges relate to allegations of bribery and falsification of corporate books from 2001 to 2007. According to the report, Siemens AG will pay at least $448.5 million in fines. The Justice Department has accused Siemens of making bribes and trying to falsify its corporate books from 2001 to 2007. It has also accused some of the conglomerate's subsidiaries of bribery, including paying kickbacks to the former Iraqi government to get some of the United Nations Oil-for Food contracts. Siemens and its subsidiaries in Bangladesh, Venezuela and Argentina have agreed to plead guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington in front of Judge Richard J. Leon. Siemens has agreed to pay $448.5 million in fines, with the three subsidiaries paying at least $500,000 each, according to court papers. A spokeswoman for the U.S. division of Sieme...

The New York Times is reporting that five Guantanamo detainees charged with coordinating the September 11 attacks told a military judge on Monday that they wish to confess in full and enter pleas of guilty. The request, which was the result of hours of private meetings among the detainees, appeared intended to undercut the government’s plan for a high-profile trial while drawing international attention to what some of the five men have said was a desire for martyrdom. But the military judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley of the Army, said a number of legal questions about how the commissions are to deal with capital cases had to be resolved before guilty pleas could be accepted. The case is likely to remain in limbo for weeks or months, presenting the Obama administration with a new issue involving detainees at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay to resolve when it takes office next month. At the start of what had been listed as routine proceedings Monday, Judge Henley said he had received a wr...

MSNBC is reporting that prosecutors offered O.J. Simpson a plea deal before he was convicted that would have resulted in less time behind bars than he now faces. Simpson was convicted and sentenced for kidnapping and assaulting two sports memorabilia dealers with a deadly weapon. O.J. Simpson is headed to prison for at least nine years, but a prosecutor says the former football star could have spent less time behind bars if he had accepted a plea deal before he was convicted. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said Simpson was offered a deal for less prison time than the nine-to 33-year prison terms the graying former football star was sentenced to on Friday for kidnapping and assaulting two sports memorabilia dealers with a deadly weapon. "Mr. Simpson wanted something just short of a public apology," Roger said. "We didn't think that was appropriate." For an interesting discussion of the varying reports in the media regarding how many years Simpson ac...

CNN is reporting that the Minnesota Court of Appeals today rejected the arguments of U.S. Senator Larry Craig, who sought to withdraw his guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct in connection with a sex-string operation at the Minneapolis airport. The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's effort to withdraw his guilty plea to a misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct in connection with a sex-sting operation. "Because we see no abuse of discretion in the denial and conclude that the statute is not overbroad, we affirm" a lower court's decision, the three-judge panel wrote in a 10-page ruling. In a written statement, Craig said he was "extremely disappointed" by the action and was considering an appeal. "I disagree with their conclusion and remain steadfast in my belief that nothing criminal or improper occurred at the Minneapolis airport," Craig said. The Idaho Republican was arrested in the Min...