July 28, 2010
Another Anna Chapman? Russian Beauty Arrested for Weapons Smuggling
24-year-old Anna Fermanova was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle night-vision equipment out of the country.
A young beautician has been charged with trying to smuggle weapons parts into Russia as U.S. authorities continue to investigate suspected foreign spies.Anna Fermanova, who lives near Dallas, Texas, was apprehended while trying to take three hi-tech night-vision rifle sights aboard a flight to Mexico.
The 24-year-old was stopped in March by officials at JFK Airport in New York and the items were confiscated.
She was allowed to complete her journey and arrested when she returned to the U.S. earlier this month.
Fermanova is currently under arrest at her parents' home in Plano, Texas, on $50,000 bail.
She is expected to attend court in New York in the next few weeks where she faces a possible ten years in prison.
Under U.S. law, sophisticated military weapons cannot be exported without the approval of the U.S. State Department.
Ignorance of the law is no defense, but her apparent attempt to cover-up the serial numbers of the NVGs she was smuggling seems to indicate she was well aware of what she was doing, and simply very bad at stealing the technology.
This post is nothing without pics...lots and lots of pics!
Posted by: MunDane68 at July 28, 2010 09:10 AMPoor fool! She actually believed the collective media line there are no laws regarding arms exports. When I last worked at a defense contractor, we had annual reviews of ITAR & the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. Violating these laws are heavy duty felonies. I particularly don't wish Ms. Fermanova ill but if she did the crime, she should serve the time.
It does seem curious that someone like Ms. Fermanova should attempt to smuggle such devices. If the Russian government really wanted them, they could go out in diplomatic pouches with no one the wiser. Perhaps the linkage is with someone other than the Russian government.
Posted by: Jerry in Detroit at July 28, 2010 09:41 AMMr Palmer said Fermanova is a U.S. citizen who was born in Latvia and raised in the Dallas area. She splits her time between Dallas and Russia, where her husband has a job in the country's financial industry, he said.
What could possibly go wrong with giving out US citizenship in boxes of cereal?
