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09/01/2013
UK Man Pleads Guilty To Iran Arms Deal
A retired UK businessman faces sentencing in the US after pleading guilty to arms dealing.
66-year-old Christopher Tappin was extradited to the US last February over claims he tried to sell missile batteries to Iran.
The former director of Surrey-based Brooklands International Freight Services initially pleaded not guilty and said he was the victim of an FBI sting.
He changed his plea at a hearing in El Paso, Texas, in an agreement with prosecutors.
He now faces a 33-month jail term, which he could serve in the UK.
Tappin, from Orpington, south-east London, had faced up to 35 years in jail.
An investigation into Mr Tappin began in 2005 when US agents asked technology providers to provide information about suspicious buyers. Those people were then approached by undercover companies set up by government agencies.
Robert Gibson, an associate of Tappin and fellow Briton, agreed to co-operate with agents in their investigation.
He was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to export defence articles.
Mr Gibson was found to have provided customs agents with about 16,000 computer files and emails, showing he and Tappin had commercial ties with Iranian customers.
Despite the ordeal, Mr Tappin’s his wife Elaine, 62, said she hoped he would be back on home soil.
Mrs Tappin has the chronic lung condition Churg-Strauss syndrome. Her husband is her principal carer.
It is thought Mr Tappin’s cooperation with prosecutors could land him a more lenient sentencing.
(IT/GK)
66-year-old Christopher Tappin was extradited to the US last February over claims he tried to sell missile batteries to Iran.
The former director of Surrey-based Brooklands International Freight Services initially pleaded not guilty and said he was the victim of an FBI sting.
He changed his plea at a hearing in El Paso, Texas, in an agreement with prosecutors.
He now faces a 33-month jail term, which he could serve in the UK.
Tappin, from Orpington, south-east London, had faced up to 35 years in jail.
An investigation into Mr Tappin began in 2005 when US agents asked technology providers to provide information about suspicious buyers. Those people were then approached by undercover companies set up by government agencies.
Robert Gibson, an associate of Tappin and fellow Briton, agreed to co-operate with agents in their investigation.
He was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to export defence articles.
Mr Gibson was found to have provided customs agents with about 16,000 computer files and emails, showing he and Tappin had commercial ties with Iranian customers.
Despite the ordeal, Mr Tappin’s his wife Elaine, 62, said she hoped he would be back on home soil.
Mrs Tappin has the chronic lung condition Churg-Strauss syndrome. Her husband is her principal carer.
It is thought Mr Tappin’s cooperation with prosecutors could land him a more lenient sentencing.
(IT/GK)
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