US: Two Defendants Sentenced to 26 and 14 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to the LTTE, a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Item
Title
US: Two Defendants Sentenced to 26 and 14 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to the LTTE, a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Description
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, defendants Sathajhan Sarachandran and Nadarasa Yogarasa were sentenced to 26 and 14 years in prison, respectively, in connection with their efforts to purchase $1 million worth of high-powered weaponry for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a designated foreign terrorist organization. The sentences were imposed by Chief United States District Judge Raymond J. Dearie. In January 2009, Sarachandran pled guilty to providing, conspiring to provide, and attempting to provide material support to the LTTE and conspiring and attempting to acquire guided surface-to-air missiles and missile launchers, and Yogarasa pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to the LTTE and conspiring to do so.
On August 19, 2006, Sarachandran, Yogarasa and two co-defendants1 were arrested on Long Island after engaging in negotiations with an undercover FBI agent to purchase and export 20 SA-18 heat-seeking missiles, ten missile launchers, 500 AK-47s, and other military equipment for the LTTE. The defendants were acting at the direction of senior LTTE leadership in Sri Lanka, including Pottu Amman, the LTTE’s chief of intelligence and procurement and the right-hand man to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakharan. The LTTE intended to use the SA-18 missiles to shoot down Kfir aircraft used by the Sri Lankan military.
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo012210.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20160823000103/https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo012210.htm
On August 19, 2006, Sarachandran, Yogarasa and two co-defendants1 were arrested on Long Island after engaging in negotiations with an undercover FBI agent to purchase and export 20 SA-18 heat-seeking missiles, ten missile launchers, 500 AK-47s, and other military equipment for the LTTE. The defendants were acting at the direction of senior LTTE leadership in Sri Lanka, including Pottu Amman, the LTTE’s chief of intelligence and procurement and the right-hand man to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakharan. The LTTE intended to use the SA-18 missiles to shoot down Kfir aircraft used by the Sri Lankan military.
https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo012210.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20160823000103/https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo012210.htm
Date
22 January 2010