Jeb Blount – Reuters, 03/26/2012
The Brazilian judge handling criminal charges against U.S. oil company Chevron , drill-rig operator Transocean and 17 of their employees over a November oil spill granted two of the accused permission to leave Brazil to visit their families, documents posted on Monday on a court Web site showed.
The decision could be a sign courts will be lenient with defendants during a unprecedented Brazilian criminal case that could last years and result in prison sentences of up to 31 years.
The employees, Transocean’s offshore superintendent Gary Marcel Slaney, 58, a Canadian, and British citizen Brian Mara, 45, a Transocean drilling technician, were allowed to leave Brazil on March 21, the day the charges were filed and return April 19, according to documents on the Federal Court Web site.
Brazil Portal 