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DOJ to Pay $290,000 to Iranian-American Defense Contractor

By Joe Palazzolo

The federal government will pay an Iranian-American Defense Contractor $290,000 to settle all claims in connection with a failed 2007 prosecution of him and his company, Axion Corp., The Hunstville Times in Alabama reported.

The settlement ends the nearly six-year legal battle of Alex Latifi of Hunstville, Ala. He had been accused of sending classified information to China related to the design of the Blackhawk helicopter and faking testing results on government-contracted work.

Lawyers involved in the case told the newspaper that they didn’t know of another instance in which the federal government has voluntarily paid a criminal defendant.

?It’s a revolutionary ruling and case,? Henry Frohsin, who represented Latifi, said in a statement. ?I can’t speak for the Department of Justice, but it’s not likely that you will find any other case where the government has voluntarily agreed to make restitution. The fact is it was a misguided and unfair prosecution by the Bush administration and DOJ that never should have been waged in the first place and one the government ultimately lost.”

Latifi was charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act in a six-count government indictment and trial in 2007. The award is meant to cover legal expenses incurred during his federal prosecution.

The ABA Journal has more on the Latifi case here.

Full post as published by Main Justice on August 13, 2010 (boomark / email).