[jeffkrol]

"Justice" in America?.. think again......................\
Blackwater Pays Millions in Arms Smuggling Case | Danger Room | Wired.com

Depending on how you look at it, the world’s most notorious mercenary firm just got away with misleading the government about arming and training foreign governments — or the company agreed to pay millions, only to defer a potential prosecution on those charges. The firm formerly known as Blackwater has agreed to fork over $7.5 million to the Justice Department $7.5 million to avoid going to court on 17 criminal charges. It’s not exactly a bank-breaker for the company, now known as Academi LLC. Then again, the legal deal announced yesterday doesn’t get Academi entirely off the hook.

On Tuesday, Academi and the Justice Department entered into a “Deferred Prosecution Agreement” that allows Academi to spend the next 36 months convincing the government that its extra-legal extracurricular activities are all in the past, a vestige of the firm’s former owners. If it can’t, however, Academi may have federal prosecutors breathing down their necks.

I'll leave it to you to find the billions they made........

Side note: Remind self that if ever caught in a crime I should just change my name, declare it a "legacy" offense and pay $2..............

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in New Bern, North Carolina, covers unauthorized sales of satellite phones in Sudan, unauthorized military training provided to foreign governments including Canada's, the illegal possession of automatic weapons and other violations, the Justice Department said.

The sales and training in question took place from 2005 to 2008 and did not have the authorization of the U.S. Treasury and State departments, as required by law, prosecutors said.

Academi acknowledged "responsibility for the conduct" in signing what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
The agreement means the company will not face prosecution for the 17 alleged counts as long as it meets auditing requirements and complies with export restrictions.
Two years ago Blackwater, which also used the name Xe Services LLC, reached a $42 million settlement with the State Department for similar allegations.
As a military contractor for the U.S. government in Iraq, Blackwater was a target of intense international scrutiny. In March 2004, four of its security guards were ambushed and killed, and two of their bodies were hung from a bridge in Fallujah.
"This company clearly violated U.S. laws by exporting sensitive technical data and unauthorized defense services to a host of countries around the world," Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in North Carolina and two other states, said in a written statement.

for fun:

The problem was that South Sudan wasn’t yet independent; and the Sudanese government that it fought for independence was under U.S. sanctions. Meetings with State Department officials in 2005 to carve out geographical exemptions to the sanctions, allowing Blackwater to do business, were unsuccessful. According to the statement of facts, Blackwater employees shipped satellite phones to South Sudanese contacts after marking the boxes “Not For Sale,” apparently to elide the sanctions.

Memo for self: If I ever decide to sell drugs... mark bags as "not for sale"......................