US feds indict 2 in missile-smuggling scheme (AP) Updated: 2005-11-10 09:16
A US federal grand jury indicted two men Wednesday for allegedly conspiring
to smuggle surface-to-air missiles into the United States for use abroad. Such
missiles are designed to bring down aircraft.
The U.S. attorney's office said the charges marked the first time a 2004
anti-terrorism law has been used. The law calls for a mandatory minimum sentence
of 25 years and the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted.
Chao Tung Wu, 51, and Yi Qing Chen, 41, are naturalized U.S. citizens born in
China, authorities said. The conspiracy did not involve domestic terrorists, and
the two men were told by an undercover agent that the missiles would be sent
abroad, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.
The indictment specified that bribes, including one for $2 million, were to
be paid to certain foreign officials. Authorities declined to identify the
countries involved.
Gerson Horn, an attorney for Wu, said an undercover agent had tried to buy
weapons from Wu and that Chen was allegedly involved in the negotiations. He
said the agent "initiated the negotiations and persisted in the negotiations but
it never bore fruit ... with either one of them."
He said his client was innocent and that the case was "conceived, nurtured
and orchestrated by the undercover agent, who worked this case for a number of
years."
Horn also said no weapons or weapons components changed hands.
An attorney for Chen did not immediately return a call for comment.
The men have been in custody since August when they were arrested as part of
a federal undercover probe into smuggling in Southern California. They were
originally charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and Ecstasy and
importing millions of counterfeit cigarettes.
The men were previously ordered held without bond. An arraignment hearing on
the new charges was scheduled for Monday.
"Today's indictment shows a willingness of the smugglers to acquire
practically anything for importation, no matter how dangerous or destructive,"
U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang said in a statement.
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