NEW YORK STATE -- Senator Charles Schumer says he is disgusted by reports suggesting the government of the United Kingdom released al-Megrahi as part of some deal for oil. Those reports began to surface over the weekend in British papers.

Internal memos were released to the press regarding the decision by Scottish officials to let him return to Libya under compassionate grounds. In those memos, several top British officials say it would be in the best interests of the country to avoid letting al-Megrahi die in prison.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied those reports Wednesday, saying the interests mentioned in the memo refer to the UK's efforts to fight global terrorism.

In an interview with Capital Tonight's Brian Taffe, Schumer said the U.S. should be conducting its own probe into the issue and warned that there would be consequences if wrong-doing was discovered.

"And I have called for an independent investigation into finding out if it is true. And if it is true there should be some kind of sanctions against Great Britain. They are our friends, but when this type of thing happens you can't just pretend to not notice," Schumer said.