US jails Indian 15 years for Hezbollah weapons

Patrick Nayyar, 50, conspired to provide Lebanese terrorist group with arms and supplies; co-conspirator remains at large

Hezbollah fighters attending a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, November 2011. (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah fighters attending a rally in Beirut, Lebanon, November 2011. (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)

NEW YORK — A US judge on Monday sentenced an Indian man to 15 years in prison for conspiracy and attempting to provide weapons to Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, designated by Washington as a terrorist group.

Patrick Nayyar, a 50-year-old living illegally in New York, was arrested in 2009 and found guilty by a jury in March 2012. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail by District Judge Robert Sweet.

He was convicted of agreeing to supply an FBI undercover agent with guns, ammunition, vehicles, bulletproof vests and night vision goggles between July and September 2009.

Before his arrest, he supplied a pistol, pick-up truck and box of ammunition to the agent, whom he thought would deliver the items to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

An alleged co-conspirator, Conrad Mulholland, 47, is not a US citizen and left the country before charges were filed. He remains at large, the prosecutor’s office said.

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