WASHINGTON
A Chicago man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions by agreeing to assist Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, the Justice Department said.
Between 2008 and 2010, Gregory Turner, 72, of Chicago met multiple times in Africa with Zimbabwean government officials, including Mugabe and Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who were individually subject to U.S. sanctions, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
A November 2008 “consulting agreement” provided for a payment of $3.4 million in fees to Turner and his co-defendant, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, 73, to engage in lobbying efforts to have sanctions removed by meeting with and attempting to persuade federal and state government officials.
The agreement said that the defendants would also contact Illinois congressional members to work to oppose the sanctions.
Turner was ordered to begin serving his sentence March 13, and will be placed on court supervision for a year following his release.
Co-defendant Ben Israel, also of Chicago, was sentenced last August to seven months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The sanctions against Mugabe and others in Zimbabwe ― for human rights abuses ― were initially imposed in 2003 by President George W. Bush and have been continued annually by President Barack Obama, beginning in March 2009.
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party have governed Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980.
