A South Carolina man and woman have been indicted and arrested on charges of supplying the Government of India with controlled technology without the required licenses, Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division, and Jeffrey A. Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced today.
Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46 and Mythili Gopal, 36, both of Simpsonville, S.C., were arrested on Friday, March 23, 2007, and had their initial appearances in the U.S. District Court in Greenville, S.C. on April 3, Sudarshan had his first court appearance in the District of Columbia as he was arraigned on the charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina, who has scheduled a status hearing for April 17, 2007, for both Sudarshan and Gopal.
The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, the Department of Commerce, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A15-count indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia and unsealed on March 23, charges the defendants with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Arms Export Control Act and with acting as illegal agents of a foreign government. The indictment also charges AKN Prasad of Bangalore, India, and Sampath Sundar, 47, of Singapore, for their roles in the offenses.
If convicted of the charges, Sudarshan faces a likely sentencing guideline range of 97-121 months in prison, while Gopal faces a likely sentencing guideline range of 63-78 months. Prasad and Sundar face likely sentencing guideline ranges of 78-97 months, if convicted of the charges.
“These arrests put a network of technology smugglers out of business and demonstrate that we have no tolerance for weapons proliferators who illegally supply entities with weapons technology that has applications in the development of aircraft, missile and aerospace systems,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein.
US Department of Justice
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