A Pakistani citizen who pleaded guilty last year to attempting to export

A Pakistani citizen who pleaded guilty last year to attempting to export nuclear-related material to his homeland was sentenced by a US court today to 37 months in prison, the Department of Justice said.

Nadeem Akhtar, 46, had faced up to five years and a $250,000 fine for conducting a scheme to provide restricted items to clients in Pakistan, including agencies of the government in Islamabad.

A US district judge in Maryland sentenced him to 37 months in jail followed by two years of supervised release for “conspiring to commit export violations and to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to illegally export nuclear-related materials,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Akhtar, a legal permanent US resident, used his company, Computer Communication USA, to try and obtain radiation detection devices, resins for coolant water purification and calibration equipment over a five-year period.

Akhtar also unlawfully obtained or attempted to obtain or export mechanical and electrical valves, cranes and scissor lifts, according to a Department of Justice statement.

A license was required to export the restricted nuclear materials given their possible use in commercial or military environments.

He also tried to evade US regulations by using third parties and real or fake businesses in Pakistan, Dubai and the United States, and by conspiring with contacts in Illinois and California to procure items for him under false pretenses.

Radiation detection devices? sounds like they’re planning a chemical attack….hmmmm

Source AP