Ex-Governor James Ibori subside to plea bargain with London MET Police

James Ibori

Situations surrounding former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, may have made him agreed to a plea bargain deal with the London Metropolitan Police (MET)

Sources conversant with the deal said that, the deal was first sighted when the London MET dropped its corruption charges against Ibori. 

It was learnt that the corruption charges were dropped because proving the case was becoming challenging, resorting to money laundering provides an easier case to prosecute because a defendant could be found guilty once a  rightly so called inference could be made.

Ibori's was made to realise that since the corruption charges had been dropped, subsiding to a plea bargain on money laundering was less scornful.

A source said most likely the deal may be signed as early as this week.

A plea bargain (also plea agreement,or plea deal) is an agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence. 

A plea bargain allows both parties to avoid a lengthy criminal trial and may allow criminal defendants to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on a more serious charge.