Haiti Teleco Robert Antoine may Leave Prison Sooner than Expected

Department of Justice prosecutors petitioned the Court on Tuesday, March 10th, invoking the Rule 35 motion, to request a reduction of Robert Antoine's four-year prison term he is currently serving, for embezzlment in a kick-back scheme, between Haiti Teleco and telecom firms, Terra and Cinergy, based in Florida. According to prosecutors, Antoine has "provided ample assistance to all law agencies," entitling him to a reconsideration of his sentence.

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During the Court's hearing on the Rule 35 motion, the "particulars of the defendant's cooperation will be submitted at court," according to the petition.

Antoine, one-time overseer of Haiti Teleco's international operations, received bribes in excess of $1 million, in return for providing steep discounts in telephone rates and automatic contract renewals, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

According to Robert Antoine's attorney, Dennis Kainen, the Rule 35 motion can be invoked, when a defendant cooperates fully in an investigation against other offenders, within a year of sentencing, as Antoine has done in this on-going case. Kainen commented that "his cooperation and considerable cost of spending time away from his family began before the trials (Antoine has testified in two jury trials so far), and also," Kainen emphasized, "long before he pled guilty.

What Kainen is saying is that Antoine has met, not only the Court's requirement of assisting the investigation, within one year of his sentencing, but that he has exceeded the requirement, by offering that assistance before he made his plea, and by inference the Court may look more favorably on the request for a 50% reduction of Antoine's sentence.

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Read more: corruption, Teleco, Prison, Scam, Kick-Back, embezzlement, Robert Antoine, Security Crime Law and Order

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