VIRGINIA
A federal judge today sentenced Amin al-Baroudi, a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, to 32 months in prison for conspiring to export U.S. equipment from the United States to Syria in violation of sanctions imposed on Syria by the federal government.
Baroudi, formerly of Irvine, California, pleaded guilty on Jan. 15, 2016.
According to court documents, Baroudi, 50, admitted that from at least December 2011 through March 2013, he and his co-conspirators exported U.S. tactical equipment to Syria for the purpose of supplying and arming Ahrar al-Sham and other insurgent groups in Syria whose stated goal is to overthrow the Assad government and install an Islamic state.
Ahrar al-Sham frequently fights alongside Jabhat al-Nusrah, which has been designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization and operates as al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
According to court documents, Baroudi and his co-conspirators purchased tens of thousands of dollars of goods from companies and vendors in the United States, consisting largely of tactical equipment such as sniper rifle scopes, night vision rifle scopes, night vision goggles, laser bore sighters, speed loaders and bullet proof vests.
Baroudi and his co-conspirators traveled with the goods aboard commercial flights to Turkey and then transported the goods into Syria or provided them to others for transport, according to officials.
Baroudi made two such trips in February and March of 2013.