Oilman Gets Year in Prison for Iraq Deal

A prominent Texas oilman will spend about a year in prison for paying off Saddam's regime to secure a big oil contract. Oscar Wyatt, 83, admitting violating the UN's oil-for-food program by paying a secret Iraqi surcharge of $200,000—essentially a bribe. A judge sentenced Wyatt to a year and a day, though he can get about 2 months off for good behavior, the Houston Chronicle reports.

"I was wrong and for that I am truly sorry," Wyatt said. Among the evidence submitted by the prosecution: a tape that recorded Wyatt asking a compatriot, "Did you check to see whether they've approved that $200,000 I've already paid to the bastards over there?" (More Oscar Wyatt stories.)