Texas man sentenced to prison for smuggling weapons
TAMPA, Fla. – A Texas man was sentenced Monday to three years and one month in federal prison for conspiring to export firearms without a license, exporting firearms without a license, and smuggling firearms from the United States. Additionally, the court ordered him to forfeit seven firearms traceable to the offenses. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
According to court documents, Eyad Farah, 42, of Barrington, Texas, was part of a network of individuals involved in smuggling firearms from the United States to the Middle East. The firearms were concealed in vehicles that had been purchased at used car auctions in central Florida. The vehicles were then scheduled for export to Jordan.
Farah’s co-conspirator, Mahmoud Abdel-Ghani Mohammad Assaf, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and is currently awaiting sentencing. Yasser Ahmad Obeid, a defendant in a related case, has also pleaded guilty. In December 2014, he was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison. Farah pleaded guilty Sept. 22.
"HSI, with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, is dedicated to making communities safer by bringing criminals to justice and preventing or seizing firearms before they fall into the hands of transnational criminal organizations who pose a threat to public safety both here and abroad,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Josephine W. Thomas and Adam M. Saltzman, from the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida.
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