---
category: Other
summary: In April 1989, O'Toole was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to Tehran,
  working with Richard St.
tags:
- Person
---

[Joseph O'Toole](/people/joseph-otoole/) was a former [U.S.](/places/united-states/) Air Force colonel whose last job was in procurement, including liaison with the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/). After his retirement in 1978, he became managing director of the aircraft sales division of [FXC International](/organizations/fxc-international/) in Santa Ana, [California](/places/california/).[^1]

[FXC International](/organizations/fxc-international/) was approached by the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) to open an aircraft division to broker secret sales of aircraft worldwide on behalf of the [U.S.](/places/united-states/) government. Since [Israel](/places/israel/) already had relations with [FXC International](/organizations/fxc-international/), it was used to "paper" [American](/places/united-states/) equipment in what might have been perceived as illegal sales, allowing the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) to monitor these transactions.[^1]

[O'Toole](/people/joseph-otoole/) was involved in negotiations to sell [Chilean](/places/chile/) F-5Es to [Iran](/places/iran/) through [Singapore](/places/singapore/), believing at the time that this sale had [U.S.](/places/united-states/) government authorization, specifically from [Robert Gates](/people/robert-gates/). He was asked to act as a broker and buy the planes from [Chile](/places/chile/) on behalf of [Israel](/places/israel/), which would put an [American](/places/united-states/) stamp of approval on the deal.[^1]

In April 1989, [O'Toole](/people/joseph-otoole/) was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to [Tehran](/places/iran/), working with [Richard St. Francis](/people/richard-st-francis/) of [TransCapital Corporation](/organizations/transcapital-corporation/) and [Mike Timpani](/people/mike-timpani/). This deal was intended to be a go-between for [Israel](/places/israel/) and [Iran](/places/iran/), but it was ultimately cut out. [O'Toole](/people/joseph-otoole/) was later indicted for conspiracy to sell C-130s to [Iran](/places/iran/) in violation of the [U.S.](/places/united-states/) Arms Export Control Act, though his case was severed from [Ben-Menashe's](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) at their request, as he had cooperated with the government in setting up [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/).[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.