New York Man Sentenced for Illegaly Exporting Night Vision Equipment
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) today announced that Erik Kyriacou, of New York , N.Y., was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution in connection with the export of night vision equipment for delivery to Iran without the required U.S. Government authorization.
Kyriacou pled guilty to two counts of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, one count of interstate transportation of stolen property and one count of making a false statement in export documents.
According to court documents, in January 2004, Kyriacou unlawfully attempted to export four Astroscope camera lenses from the U.S. with knowledge that the lenses were to be shipped to Iran, which is currently under a U.S. embargo. Kyriacou also attempted to sell the lenses on the Internet to undercover agents posing as international arms brokers. The Astroscope is a third generation night vision device that allows a video camera to capture images clearly in the dark.
Court documents also indicate that the lenses had been stolen from NBC News in New York by Kyriacou while he was a part-time employee.