Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal conspiracy charge, abruptly ending his trial by acknowledging that he approved a $200,000 payment directly to an Iraqi bank account knowing it violated the rules of the U.N. oil-for-food program. Under the plea agreement, Wyatt, 83, will be sentenced to 18 to 24 months in prison and forfeit $11 million.

“I didn’t want to waste any more time at 83 years old fooling with this operation,” Wyatt said immediately after the jury was discharged. “The quicker I get it over with, the better.”

The surprise plea came on the 12th day of trial for Wyatt, whose lawyers had insisted he never paid an illegal surcharge to the Iraqi government to gain access to oil deals. The government had accused him of paying millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to illegally win contracts connected to the oil-for-food program.

Carl Parker, one of Wyatt’s lawyers, called it a “sad day” that came after a weekend of negotiations with the government.

“You’ve got to weigh the chances. There’s no crystal ball. We’ve got a client who’s 83 and if, God forbid he’d been convicted, we’re looking at 20 years rather than two,” Mr. Parker said.

Wyatt, wearing a dark blue suit, spoke in a clear, strong voice as he entered the plea, part of a deal with prosecutors that he had signed earlier in the morning. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin told him he was free to sit if he wished, but Wyatt insisted on standing.

In a brief statement, Wyatt acknowledged that in December 2001, he agreed with others to cause a surcharge payment of $200,000 to be deposited in an Iraqi bank account in Jordan and to “advise others to make the payment.” That was in violation of a U.N. oil-for-food program rule calling for no money to be paid directly to the Iraqi government.

As the judge asked a series of questions to ensure Wyatt wanted to plead guilty, Wyatt responded with “yes” and “yes, sir,” but he paused longer than usual when he was asked if he was satisfied with his legal representation.

“I’m never satisfied with my lawyers,” he said. Then he added: “I think they’ve done a good job. Yes, sir.”

The U.N. oil-for-food program, set up to finance Iraqi imports of necessities, became corrupted in 2000 when Iraqi officials began demanding illegal surcharges in return for contracts to buy Iraqi oil. The program ran between 1996 and 2003.

During the trial, prosecutors demonstrated Wyatt had such a close relationship with Iraq that he was able to meet personally with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in December 1990 to argue for the release of Americans being held as potential shields in the event of a U.S.-Iraq war.

Prosecutors played a tape for the jury of the conversation in which Saddam promised Wyatt that Americans would be released as Wyatt and former Governor Connally of Texas spoke sympathetically about Iraq’s plight.

The government insisted that Wyatt later took advantage of that relationship to secure the first contract under the oil-for-food program and to continue to receive oil deals after other American companies were shut off prior to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Wyatt’s defense lawyers argued that their client was an American hero who never knowingly paid surcharges to the Iraqi government to win oil deals. They also said he tried to play a peaceful role in resolving conflict between the two countries.

In his 1990 talk with Saddam, Wyatt could be heard telling Saddam that he had visited Iraq as many as 40 times in the previous 15 years and that he was “largely responsible” for a lot of the transactions in which Iraqis sold one-third of their oil exports to America. Under the deal with prosecutors, Wyatt will be sentenced November 27 and report to prison by January 22.