Illinois Man Given 4-Year Prison Sentence for Illegally Shipping Gun Parts to Israel
Amin Betuni of Palos Hills, Illinois, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for illegally exporting firearm parts to Israel, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced. Betuni pleaded guilty to shipping firearm parts, including rifle barrels, gas blocks for rifles and bolt carrier groups, to individuals in Israel "on at least three occasions in 2022," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Betuni put "false information on the shipping labels" and hid the parts in packages with auto parts or George Foreman grills. The firearm parts were subject to federal export regulations and required a license for export from the U.S. or written approval from the Commerce Department, which Betuni didn't receive.
Law enforcement searched the defendant's Illinois home in 2022 and found over 1,200 rounds of ammunition, a shotgun, rifle, handgun, additional bolt carrier groups and three firearm conversion devices, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Betuni pleaded guilty earlier this year to fraudulently exporting firearm parts in violation of U.S. export control laws.