Counts Dropped in Jet Parts Shipment Case

Federal prosecutors in Utah have agreed to dismiss all charges against a 60-year-old Westlake Village businessman who was accused, along with his company, of illegally shipping jet fighter parts to arms merchants in Great Britain and West Germany.

A 46-count indictment was handed down last August against Fred R. Williams; the Elgie Corp., of which he is president, and former company Vice President Dennis Evans. However, according to a stipulation signed earlier this week by Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard N. W. Lambert and defense lawyers, “subsequent investigation has raised a substantial doubt as to the guilt of the defendants.”

According to the stipulation, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, federal officials “have spent hours interviewing the defendants” and have “considered polygraph results that may tend to indicate innocence.”

A defense lawyer representing Williams and Elgie, which has plants in Camarillo and Layton, Utah, said they were pleased by the government’s decision to seek dismissal.

“The defendants have always maintained that they had no criminal intent to violate any law and that Elgie Corp. is a legitimate business operation striving to operate within the law,” said attorney Charles C. Brown of Salt Lake City

Elgie, Williams and Evans had been charged with shipping parts for F-4 Phantom jets without the State Department license required for each such shipment.

Although “it is clear that the proper . . . licenses were not obtained . . . it is questionable whether the government can show an intent to knowingly and willfully violate the law,” the stipulation said. Moreover, had the licenses been sought, “they might well have been granted,” according to the stipulation.

As part of the agreement, Elgie said it would forfeit about $68,000 worth of airplane parts that were seized by the government during the investigation.