WOAI by Carolyn Cerda
A record-breaking ruling for the family of Bob Levinson, a former FBI Agent who vanished while in Iran 13-years ago. Thursday, a U.S. judge ruled Iran must pay Levinson’s family $1.46 billion, the largest judgement for a case of this kind.
“It sounds like a great big number, but it’s a number that represents the pain and suffering of the family and the outrageous behavior of the Iranian government,” said Atty. David McGee, a partner at Beggs & Lane Law Firm in Pensacola. “They took him off the face of the Earth. They tortured him and they kept him imprisoned. They tortured the family in a way.”
Levinson disappeared in 2007 while working as a CIA contractor in Iran. His family immediately called on McGee, who was Levinson’s friend, to help bring him home.
“He was as good as they come,” said McGee. “Everybody that knew him, liked him. He was an interesting combination of tough guy, but nice guy.”
In the years following his disappearance, his captors sent messages through videos and pictures, having Levinson plead with his family and the U.S. government for help returning home.
“While they publicly claimed they didn’t have him, they also sought to seek to gain rewards for a swap with the United States for him,” said McGee.
McGee says for more than a decade, his firm worked tirelessly trying to negotiate his friend’s release, to no avail. In 2017, the family took their search for justice to court. On October 1, 2020 a US judge ordered Iran pay the nearly one and a half billion dollar judgement – for the hostage taking and torturing of Levinson.
“This family has been through hell,” said McGee. “What they want people to remember is their father, their husband, and the loss that they’ve suffered.”
Earlier this year, Levinson’s family announced they were convinced the husband and father of seven was dead. In a statement, they said the judgement was the “the first step in the pursuit of justice.”
This judgement is the first step in the pursuit of justice for Robert Levinson, an American patriot who was kidnapped and subjected to unimaginable suffering for more than 13 years. He was the greatest man we have ever known, and he should be alive today – home with his wife, children, and grandchildren. Instead, he died in Iranian custody, and our family will never be whole again. Until now, Iran faced no consequences for its actions. Judge Kelly’s decision won’t bring Bob home, but we hope it will serve as a warning against further hostage taking by Iran. We thank the court for its consideration in the case, and we hope no other family ever has to go through the living nightmare our family has gone through.
McGee says the work to get Iran to pay the judgement has just began. It’s a process that he believes could take years. And, he insists he’s holding onto hope that his friend may still be alive.
“The family has been through emotional trauma, torment for years. It’s almost a relief for them to accept his death, given what they’ve been through. But to this day, I have my doubts. There’s is only one real goal in all of this, for all these years, and that’s bringing him home. We will not quit, we’ll keep going until we get him home.”
VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE
News4SA.com
