Texas man gets 10 years in US prison for exporting military tech devices to Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters seen reflected in a shop window in Moscow on Oct. 4, 2012 (AP photo)

A Russian agent Alexander Fishenko who was accussed pleaded guilty to all 19 charges

A federal court sitting  in New York on Thursday sentenced an admitted agent of the Russian government to 10 years in prison orders him to forfeit USD 500,000 in profit he had acquired from his criminal activity, which focused on acquiring and secretly shipping abroad high-tech microelectronics for Russian military equipment, Voice of America reports.

Alexander Fishenko, a resident of Houston, Texas and dual US-Russian citizen, pleaded guilty to all 19 charges brought by the Department of Justice.

U.S. officials said a company that Fishenko had founded shipped USD 50 million worth of electronic products to Russia between 2002 and 2012, all in defiance of a government licensing system meant to control such exports.

Charges against Fishenko included conspiracy, illegally exporting controlled products, conspiring to launder money and obstruction of justice.

Alexander Fishenko, left, owner of Arc Electronics Inc., hides behind another inmate as they are escorted from the federal courthouse in Houston, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 (AP photo)

Fishenko, who owned Houston-based technology company Arc Electronics Inc., was indicted in October 2012, along with 10 other individuals. Three of the people remain at large, but the others either have pleaded guilty or been convicted in court.