"safer land mines"! LMAO! I like that!
If you liked that so much...you'll split a gut laughing over this one. Especially the part where Israel returned "most" of them...
By LOUINN LOTA
Associated Press Writer
December 29, 2001, 3:53 AM EST
LOS ANGELES -- A physicist accused of exporting potential nuclear triggers to Israel pleaded guilty to two federal counts as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Richard Kelly Smyth, a fugitive for 16 years until his July arrest in Spain, entered the plea Friday after prosecutors said they would drop the 28 other counts against him.
Smyth, 72, was first charged in 1985 with exporting devices known as krytrons to Heli Corp. in Israel. The two-inch devices can be used in photocopying machines, but because of their potential as nuclear triggers, they cannot be shipped without State Department approval.
On Friday, Smyth pleaded guilty to making false statements or false documents by signing or approving invoices to send the material to Israel in 1982. He also pleaded guilty to exporting the devices without a license.
He will be held without bail until his sentencing on Feb. 28. He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $110,000 fine.
Smyth's attorney, James D. Riddet, refused to comment on his client's motives for shipping the devices, saying he would address the issue during sentencing.
At the time of the illegal exports, Heli Corp. was owned by Arnon Milchan, an Israeli-born arms trader who became a successful Hollywood film producer. His credits include "Pretty Woman" and "L.A. Confidential."
In an interview on television's "60 Minutes" last year, Milchan denied any involvement in the krytron deal but said he had allowed the Israeli government to use his company as a conduit for trading with the United States.
Israel returned most of the krytrons after Smyth's indictment and claimed they were never intended for use in a nuclear weapons program.
Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press |
