A U.S. judge in New York convicted three people of illegally exporting high-tech electronics to Russian military and spy agencies.
They were among 11 people charged in the United States in 2012 in a scam that allegedly illegally exported millions of dollars worth of electronics to Russia under the guise of civilian deals.
Five others have pleaded guilty, including the Russian-American businessman who owned the Arc Electronics corporation in Houston, Texas. The other three are in Russia and beyond the reach of U.S. law.
The convicted individuals, who worked for Arc, received long jail sentences. Alexander Posobilov faces up to 185 years, Shavkat Abdullaev faces 65, and Anastasia Diatlova up to 25 years for shipping electronics to Russian government agencies, including the FSB spy agency.
Among the items shipped were devices used in military hardware such as radar and surveillance systems, missile guidance systems, and detonation triggers, U.S. prosecutors said.
Many of the goods shipped from 2008 to 2012 are not produced in Russia domestically, U.S. prosecutors said.
