On November 10, 2009, Frederic Bourke Jr. was sentenced to one year and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan. In addition, Judge Scheindlin ordered Bourke to pay a $1 million fine and to serve three years supervised release after he completes his prison term for his role in an alleged scheme to bribe Azerbaijan government officials.
As reported in a previous post, Bourke was found guilty by a federal jury in July, 2009 of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and the Travel Act and of making false statements to the FBI for his role in a scheme to bribe foreign officials in Azerbaijan in connection with the privatization of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (“SOCAR”). Notably, Bourke’s sentence fell below the range of 57 months to 71 months recommended under federal sentencing guidelines. Bourke faced a maximum five-year prison term on each of the two counts and a criminal fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the violations.