Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Federal judge sentences Armenian to 22 years for smuggling weapons into US

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

ADVERTISEMENTS

[JURIST] Armenian international arms dealer Artur Solomonyan was sentenced to 22 years in prison Friday for attempting to smuggle weapons from Eastern Europe into the US, according to the US Attorney's Office for Southern District of New York. Solomonyan and South African Christiaan Spies were found to be the leaders of a group of 18, all of whom were convicted in 2007 for arranging to sell shoulder fired surface to air missiles, rocket propelled grenades, and other Russian-made high powered weaponry to a confidential informant posing as an arms dealer for al Qaeda. The sentence was imposed by Judge Richard Howell of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, who presided over the previous convictions. According to the original complaint, from December 2003 to March 2005, Solomonyan, Spies, and another man, Ioseb Kharabadze, met with the confidential informant at various times in New York City and provided the informant with a number of assault rifles and machine guns. The FBI arrested the men in 2005 before any of the larger weapons were obtained. The complaint also alleged that Solomonyan had offered to sell uranium to the informant.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 07, 2009 (boomark / email).