Oakland resident Fares Abdo Al Eyani, 41, was sentenced to twelve months and one day in prison for conspiring to export defense items, including firearms and night vision rifle scopes, from the Port of Oakland to the Sultanate of Oman, according to a Department of Justice release on Friday.
Federal prosecutors say that, back in 2019, Al Eyani acquired at least four firearms, 44 rifle scopes, magazine rounds, monoculars and night vision goggles. He then stashed those items in two different shipping containers scheduled to depart from the Port of Oakland. To conceal the firearms, he reportedly disassembled them into their component parts, wrapped them in separate pieces of aluminum foil, and hid them in automobiles inside each container.
Law enforcement officers seized the items before they shipped out.
“Such actions not only pose significant risks to national security but also contribute to destabilizing regions and potentially fueling conflicts,” said San Francisco Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Tatum King in the press announcement.
Al Eyani’s wife was also separately sentenced to three years probation for making false statements to the FBI during an investigation into the matter.
