Arms dealer gets 30 years in prison

A Syberian-born arms dealer was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison for conspiring to sell weapons to Columbian militants while knowing they sought to kill Americans.

63-year-old Monzar al-Kassar, long suspected of aiding militants in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was convicted in November of conspiring to sell millions of dollars of weapons to militants in a sting operation. No weapons were ever exchanged.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said al-Kassar and 60-year-old co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy had engaged in terorism-related crimes that were chronicled with overwhelming evidence, including videotaped conversations. Rakoff sentenced Moreno to 25 years in prison.

A federal jury convicted the criminals of conspiring to provide aid and equipment to a terrorist organization, conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers, conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and money laundering.

The charges required a mandatory minimum prison sentence of at least 25 years. Judge Rakoff said sentencing guidelines called for a life sentence for both criminals, but the U.S. Government had agreed not to seek the maximum sentence when the criminals were extradited.

Prosecutors said al-Kassar had provided military equipment to violent factions in Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq. His customers included known terrorist organizations determined to stage "attacks on U.S. interests and U.S. nationals," said prosecutors. MORE

D. Brian Blackwell