A British lawyer who had been fighting extradition to the U.S. on charges he helped a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary bribe Nigerian officials will plead guilty in the case, his attorney said Thursday.
Jeffrey Tesler was on his way to the United States and planned to enter a guilty plea in Houston federal court Friday, said his attorney, Bradley Simon.
Tesler, 62, was arrested in February 2009 on charges he helped steer bribe money from Houston-based Kellogg, Brown & Root LLC to Nigerian government officials to win more than $6 billion in construction contracts. A grand jury had indicted Tesler on 11 counts related to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Simon declined to comment on what count or counts Tesler would plead guilty to on Friday or why his client decided to plead guilty.
Tesler, a dual British and Israeli citizen, was arrested in London and had been fighting extradition to the U.S. His attorneys had argued that he should not be extradited because the alleged crimes did not have a substantial link to the U.S. and the passage of time might prevent a fair trial.