Although Kemal Oksuz received a sentence on 2/11/2019 that some people described as "slap on the wrist" it comes with strings attached. ... Kemal has what the US Federal government wants and that is information on members of Congress, the Gulen Networks & political bribing. People close to this case knew that Kemal would flip valuable information in return for a lighter sentence. 2 year probation $20,000 fine and 100 hours of community service.
WASHINGTON – Kemal Oksuz, a former Houston-based businessman convicted of lying to Congress about Azerbaijan's role in a funding a trip for 10 lawmakers – including four from Texas – walked out of a federal courthouse Monday a free man.
Oksuz, 49, was credited with three months he spent in an Armenian jail last year, plus another week that he was detained upon his return to the U.S. last November. He also will serve two years of probation and pay a $20,000 fine.
The Justice Department, arguing that Oksuz's deception undermined bedrock American political institutions, had sought a one-year prison sentence, the maximum possible under federal sentencing guidelines.
"I feel embarrassed," he continued, chocking back emotion. "It is not easy for me. I am going through hard times... I take full responsibility for my unlawful conduct. I apologize. I am sorry for all the mess I have caused."
Oksuz's case ended a four-year corruption investigation that included the Office of Congressional Ethics, the House Ethics Committee and, finally, the FBI, which pursued him from Houston to Armenia, where he was living until last year.
Oksuz, who also goes by "Kevin," refused to cooperate in the federal probes while moving abroad for two years, leaving his family behind in Arlington, a Virginia suburb of Washington. But after his arrest in Armenia late last year on a U.S. warrant, he waived extradition and gave himself up to American authorities.
The Justice Department alleged that he used a pair of Houston non-profits as part of an international scheme to funnel money from the Azeri national oil company "in order to gain access" to members of Congress at a 2013 energy conference in the capital city of Baku. Still, despite the sweeping nature of those allegations, no members of Congress or other foreign officials were indicted in the probe. Maybe not that "probe" but there are countless other investigations on the famous 10. Stockman was sentenced November 2018 to 10 years in Federal Prision for money laundering via non profits.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Former-Houston-businessman-sentenced-for-13607408.php
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/feto-terror-member-sentenced-for-lying-about-azerbaijan-trip-3474329
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-non-profit-president-pleads-guilty-scheme-conceal-foreign-funding-2013-congressional
https://armenpress.am/eng/news/963879.html
Here is Stockman with Kemal Oksuz at the AFAZ non profit offices
(Assembly of Friends of Azerbaijan)
