Court in San Francisco sentences Lazarenko to nine years in prison (09/03/06)

Court in San Francisco sentences Lazarenko to nine years in prison

SAN FRANCISCO - A U.S. court on August 25 sentenced Pavlo Lazarenko, who served as Ukraine's prime minister in 1996-1997, to nine years in prison and fined him $10 million, Reuters reported.

RFE/RL Newsline reported that a U.S. jury had convicted Mr. Lazarenko in 2004 of 29 counts of extortion, money laundering through U.S. banks, fraud and transportation of stolen property. The judge presiding over the Lazarenko case later threw out 15 counts.

"The defendant's conduct was egregious - he misused his office to generate tens of millions for himself at the expense of the Ukrainian people and then sought to avail himself of our banking system to safeguard his criminal proceeds," U.S. prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.

According to the San Francisco Sentinel, U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins said "a significant sentence is appropriate" for Mr. Lazarenko because of his "utilization of the financial system of this country to conceal ill-gotten gains."

Mr. Lazarenko's lawyers said they will appeal the verdict.

Mr. Lazarenko, 53, applied for political asylum in the United States in 1998. He was arrested in 1999 and accused of money laundering in 2000. He has been kept under house arrest in San Francisco since 2003.

A Swiss court tried Mr. Lazarenko in absentia in 2000, finding him guilty of money laundering and sentencing him to one and a half years in prison and imposing a $6.6 million fine.

The former prime minister of Ukraine is the second foreign leader to be prosecuted in U.S. courts. In 1992 Gen. Manuel Noriega of Panama was sentenced to 30 years in prisons for trafficking cocaine.

Speaking of the Lazarenko case, U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan told the San Francisco Sentinel "The defendant's crimes lasted for over seven years and resulted in a $44 million loss to Ukrainian citizens and the laundering of over $21 million through the American banking system."

Mr. Lazarenko's lawyer Doron Weinberg told the Sentinel that his defense attorneys expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal. "We believe no American crime was committed," Mr. Weinberg said. "We expect that will be the result on appeal and so we expect the conviction will be set aside."

He added that Mr. Lazarenko is likely to serve only three and a half to five years in prison once he is credited for previous time in jail and for good behavior.

Judge Jenkins has scheduled a hearing for September 29 to consider the U.S. government's bid for Mr. Lazarenko's forfeiture of $22.8 million in proceeds from money laundering.

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