A judge tentatively tossed the high-profile bribery conviction of a California maker of emergency electricity towers, Lindsey Manufacturing, along with two executives of the company.
U.S. District Judge Howard Matz in Los Angeles issued a tentative ruling at a three-hour hearing Tuesday that overturned the first conviction at trial of a company for foreign bribery.
“It was a long time coming, but justice has been done,” said Jan Handzlik, the lawyer representing the company and its chief executive, Keith Lindsey, in an interview with Corruption Currents.
Lindsey Manufacturing, an Azusa, Calif.-based firm, and two of its executives were convicted in May of paying bribes to officials at the Mexican state-owned utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad, or CFE, from 2002 to 2009. A Mexican sales agent was also convicted, and sentenced to time served.
