Indonesian Citizen Sentenced to Four Years for Violating Arms Export Control Act
Madison, Wisconsin -- Erik C. Peterson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Doli Sharief Pulungan, age unknown, a citizen of Indonesia, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb to four years in federal prison for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act. Pulungan was convicted of the charge on May 6, 2008, following a two-day jury trial in federal court in Madison.
The evidence at trial established that Pulungan was a member of an international conspiracy to illegally export 100 Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T Riflescopes out of the United States. The tactical riflescopes have infrared capability and are designed to attach to M-16's and AR-15 assault rifles. The U.S. State Department has classified the riflescopes as "defense articles" under the Arms Export Control Act and they are therefore subject to the export regulations in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
The evidence also established that Pulungan took steps to try and further the conspiracy in the Western District of Wisconsin, specifically in the Cashton, Wis. area.
On July 31, 2007, he sent an e-mail from Indonesia to a business associate in Cashton, and instructed him to order 100 of the Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T Riflescopes. Pulungan asked this person to have the scopes shipped temporarily to the person's home in the Western District of Wisconsin, for later shipment overseas, and also asked this person not to tell the company that the items were going to Indonesia.
When that business associate refused to assist him, Pulungan approached a second individual in the Cashton area while visiting the United States on September 26, 2007. Pulungan asked the individual to purchase 100 Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T Riflescopes and ship them to Saudi Arabia, where the defendant would later have them shipped to Indonesia. In exchange for this individual's assistance, Pulungan offered to pay him $100,000, which was $30,000 more than the cost of the scopes themselves. After the encounter with defendant, the individual contacted the FBI.
On September 27, 2007, the FBI interviewed Pulungan, who provided a variety of different reasons for wanting the scopes. He was traveling with two Indonesian passports with different dates of birth. His real date of birth has not been determined.
The charges against Pulungan were the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, with the assistance of the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. State Department, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith P. Duchemin.
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