Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., the Texas oilman accused of cheating the United Nations oil-for-food program, pleaded guilty yesterday to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s government in 2001 to gain access to lucrative Iraqi oil contracts.Mr. Wyatt’s surprise plea came on the 14th day of his trial in United States District Court in Manhattan, before federal prosecutors finished presenting their case. Under an agreement with the government, he admitted guilt on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is most likely to be sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison rather than the 70 years he might have faced if convicted on all five counts of the indictment.
Mr. Wyatt, a former drill-bit salesman who rose to prominence in the Texas oil business, had proclaimed his innocence almost from the moment he was arrested two years ago at his home in the exclusive River Oaks section of Houston.
After rising before Judge Denny Chin to admit his guilt, Mr. Wyatt, a plain-spoken octogenarian, embraced his wife, Lynn, a doyenne of the Houston social scene known for her philanthropic work and taste for haute couture.
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