The Cost of Doing Business Duex

I could probably do one of these every day.

Anthony Badalamenti, Former Halliburton Employee, Charged With Destroying Gulf Oil Spill Evidence

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Huffington Post

09/19/13 05:12 PM ET ED

A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company.

Anthony Badalamenti, who had been the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., was charged in federal court with instructing two other employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP’s blown-out well.

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Also on Thursday, a federal judge accepted a plea agreement that calls for Halliburton to pay a $200,000 fine for a misdemeanor stemming from Badalamenti’s alleged conduct.

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The plea deal has its critics, however. Allison Fisher, an outreach director for the Public Citizen nonprofit advocacy group, called it a “travesty.”

“Rather than rubber stamp the plea agreement,” she said in a statement, “the court should have rejected the bargain-basement deal because it fails to hold the corporation accountable for its criminal acts and will not deter future corporate crime.”

Unlike BP and rig owner Transocean Ltd., Halliburton was not charged with a crime related to the causes of the disaster. The fine Halliburton agreed to pay is the statutory maximum for the misdemeanor charge of unauthorized destruction of evidence.

The deal announced in July also calls for Halliburton to be on probation for three years and to make a $55 million contribution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, but that payment was not a condition of the deal.

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BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine await a trial next year on manslaughter charges stemming from the rig workers’ deaths. Prosecutors claim they botched a key safety test and disregarded abnormally high pressure readings that were glaring signs of trouble before the well blowout.

Former BP executive David Rainey is charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil that was spewing from the blown-out well in 2010. Former BP engineer Kurt Mix is charged with deleting text messages and voicemails about the company’s response to the spill.

DOJ Gives Halliburton A Pass On Destroying Evidence In BP Oil Spill

By: DSWright, Firedog Lake

Friday September 20, 2013 8:06 am

Halliburton Inc. will not be held accountable for criminal acts committed by its employees under a plea agreement with the Department of Justice now accepted by a judge – the firm will pay a fine for a misdemeanor.

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Weak does not even begin to describe this deal. Not only was Halliburton instrumental in causing the disaster, the firm then destroyed evidence of their involvement in helping cause the spill.

But in a move reminiscent of the Fabrice Tourre and Goldman Sachs case – where a small fish stands in for the big fish that got away – one of Halliburton’s employees will face prosecution.

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Another pathetic prosecution under Eric Holder’s Justice Department where no matter how horrendous the crime the big players get to walk away unscathed. But if the PR is bad enough a small time fall guy can be found. Which of course means there is no disincentive for further criminal conduct by the big players who know they will never be held accountable.

This is what happens when you make a corporate lackey Attorney General. PR prosecutions and no justice.

It’s good to be the King.  No Justice?  No Peace!