A RETIRED British businessman has pleaded guilty in a Texas court to selling batteries for Iranian surface-to-air missiles following a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Christopher Tappin, 66, from Orpington, Kent, was extradited from the UK in February to face trial in the US. He had previously denied the charges, claiming he was the victim of an FBI sting operation.

Opponents of UK to US extradition arrangements say threats of exceptionally long prison sentences in the US often result in suspects opting to cut a deal with prosecutors. Tappin’s UK solicitor, Karen Todner, said 98 per cent of people who enter the US justice system agree a plea deal.

“The odds are so heavily stacked against a defendant who chooses to plead not guilty and is found guilty that the vast majority of people facing trial in the US opt to take a plea agreement,” she said.

Tappin, a freight expert, appeared in court in El Paso. He is not expected to be sentenced until a later hearing. His guilty plea to one count calls for a 33-month jail term. Prosecutors have said they will not oppose him serving this back in the UK. His wife, Elaine, 62, is suffering from chronic Churg-Strauss syndrome, a blood circulation disorder, and being cared for by their daughter at home. She said last on Thursday: “My overwhelming feeling remains one of anxiety and sadness. However at last I dare hope that Chris will be back on home soil next year. I feel we are getting to the beginning of the end.”

Tappin was initially detained in a US jail and endured a period of solitary confinement where lights were kept on 24 hours a day.

He was later granted bail and stayed with his US lawyer before moving into a flat in Houston. He is restricted by an ankle bracelet and GPS tracking device, but is free to play golf, and use the gym and swimming pool, providing he sticks to his curfew and stays in the local area.

The case followed an investigation that began in 2005 when US agents asked technology providers about apparently suspicious purchasers. Those customers were then approached by undercover companies set up by government agencies.

Robert Gibson, a British associate of Tappin who agreed to co-operate, was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty in 2007 to conspiracy to export defence articles. He gave agents 16,000 computer files and emails indicating he and Tappin had long-standing commercial ties with Iranian customers. An American, Robert Caldwell, was found guilty of aiding and abetting the illegal transport of defence articles and served 20 months in prison.

Tappin’s predicament is one other extradited Britons have faced. David Bermingham, one of three bankers jailed for 37 months over an Enron-related fraud in a plea deal in 2008, said no sane defendant would risk dozens of years in jail when a plea bargain could enable them to be home in months. “A prosecutor can now effectively be judge, jury and executioner,” he said. “A prosecutor can threaten a defendant with the rest of his life in prison. However if you are willing to plead guilty, 30 years becomes five years. If you are then co-operating and willing to give evidence against others, five years becomes two.”

By arrangement with the Guardian