A Somoza is sentenced

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004

FEDERAL COURT
A Somoza is sentenced

Politically connected Nicaraguan exilesbusinessmen are prison bound for skimming millions from their popular Los Ranchos steakhouses.
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
[e-mail]

Julio Somoza, nephew of the late Nicaraguan dictator and co-owner of the popular Los Ranchos steakhouse chain, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Wednesday for his role in a $5 million cash-skimming scheme.

Choking back tears, Somoza, 54, apologized to the judge and to his employees, friends, customers and asked his family's forgiveness.

''I know I will not be able to make it up to them in my lifetime,'' he told the bench. ``I have put them in harm's way undeservedly.''

After the hearing, federal prosecutor Richard Boscovich said Somoza had forgotten to apologize to the millions of Americans who pay their taxes in full and on time. The four Los Ranchos partners cumulatively underreported their income by more than $5.03 million between 1997 and 2000, meaning that they underpaid a combined $1.24 million in taxes.

Each pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and agreed to make total restitution, pay all back taxes with interest and penalties and record public-service announcements aimed at deterring potential tax cheats in the business community.

Somoza's brother, Carlos, is scheduled to be sentenced today, as is the brothers' Los Ranchos partner Juan Wong, another prominent Nicaraguan exile.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7765274.htm

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Q: "Mr President, have you approved of covert activity to destabilise the present government of Nicaragua?"
A: "Well no, we're supporting them, the - oh, wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm sorry, I was thinking of
El Salvador because of the previous, when you said Nicaragua. Here again, this is something upon which
the national security interests, I just - I will not comment."
President Reagan's press conference, Washington, February 13th 1983

http://www.wakeupmag.co.uk/articles/cia5.htm

[jonoboy]

1. choking back tears..always do when they are caught.

surely these people must pay in another life for what they have done to the innocents( and that includes The Bush clan)

[Judi Lynn]

2. Two more sentenced in Los Ranchos case (Latin American dictator's nephew)

Two more sentenced in Los Ranchos case

-- staff report
Posted January 23 2004

A federal judge in Miami sentenced two more partners in the Los Ranchos steakhouse chain for evading $5 million in income taxes on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck placed Juan Wong, 60, on probation for five years and ordered him to spend a year on house detention. Wong is a paraplegic, and his complex medical needs convinced the judge to keep him out of prison.

Wong was a top military aide in the regime of slain Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza, who is the uncle of two of Wong's co-defendants.
(snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pcsamoza23jan23,0,1261656.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

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Why we haven't learned more about the dirty wars (Republican) in Latin America:

(snip) To manage U.S. perceptions of the wars in Central America, Reagan also authorized a systematic program of
distorting information and intimidating American journalists. Called "public diplomacy," the project was run by a
CIA propaganda veteran, Walter Raymond Jr., who was assigned to the National Security Council staff. The
project's key operatives developed propaganda "themes," selected "hot buttons" to excite the American people,
cultivated pliable journalists who would cooperate and bullied reporters who wouldn't go along.

The best-known attacks were directed against New York Times correspondent Raymond Bonner for disclosing
Salvadoran army massacres of civilians, including the slaughter of some 800 men, women and children in El
Mozote in December 1981. But Bonner was not alone. Reagan's operatives pressured scores of reporters and their
editors in an ultimately successful campaign to minimize information about these human rights crimes reaching the
American people. (For details, see Robert Parry's Lost History.)

The tamed reporters, in turn, gave the administration a far freer hand to pursue counterinsurgency operations in
Central America. Despite the tens of thousands of civilian deaths and now-corroborated accounts of massacres and
genocide, not a single senior military officer in Central America was held accountable for the bloodshed.

The U.S. officials who sponsored and encouraged these war crimes not only escaped legal judgment, but remain
highly respected figures in Washington. Some have returned to senior government posts under George W. Bush.
Meanwhile, Reagan has been honored as few recent presidents have with major public facilities named after him,
including National Airport in Washington.
(snip/...)
http://www.uvm.edu/~wmiller/iraqquicksand.htm

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Too bad Reagan's propagandists are working once again, this time for _{George Bush.}

[Aidoneus]

3. disgusting that these types are treated with kid gloves

and the reason why is obvious.. :argh: