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| Final Settlement of a confusing Cuba embargo case |
| 2004-03-01 |
| The long-running case of Canadian businessman James Sabzali, charged with violating the U.S. embargo against Cuba, came to a quiet close Friday as he received a year’s probation in exchange for pleading guilty to a single charge of "smuggling" several thousand dollars worth of supplies destined for the island. He was also fined $10,000 US. Sabzali had been charged with 75 counts of violating the 1917 U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act and a single count of conspiracy for sales of nearly $3 million worth of water-purification supplies to Cuba. He faced a possible life sentence and a fine of over $19 million. Sabzali’s conviction on the single charge of smuggling references his importation of goods in violation of U.S. law: in this case, re-export to Cuba by a U.S. business, Bro-Tech, with which he was working. Prosecutors allowed the 45-year-old Canadian, a Philadelphia-area resident since 1996, to plead guilty to this new offence to avoid the automatic deportation required by all of the original charges. He is lucky to have settled right now. I think that coming position on re-importers will be pretty harsh. Khan ruined everything for smugglers. It is curious that the Janet Reno chose to prosecute this case and that the imbecile thought it was a good idea to come to America while he was engaged in a re-importation scam. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |