N.J. Woman Faces 20 Years in Prison for Alleged Export of Military Blueprints
A New Jersey woman could be facing up to 20 years in prison for export control violations related to allegedly sending military blueprints to India without a license, said the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office. Hannah Robert, who owned two New Jersey defense contracting businesses, was arraigned Oct. 28 on one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiracy to violate the act, the attorney’s office said.
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Robert owned One Source USA, and contracted with the Defense Department to supply defense hardware items and spare parts to the U.S. government, the attorney’s office said. But rather than manufacture the goods in the U.S., as indicated on her contract bids, Robert had the goods made by an Indian company called One Source India that she co-owned with an Indian resident, the attorney’s office alleged. To facilitate the manufacture of the defense articles, she sent technical drawings to India, without the required State Department license, it alleged. The exported technical drawings allegedly include parts used in the torpedo systems for nuclear submarines, in military attack helicopters, and in F-15 fighter aircraft.
Robert also sent controlled technical data to her Indian partner for use in supplying defense articles to buyers in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, the attorney’s office said. To allow her Indian counterpart access to the technical data, she hosted it on the website of a Camden County, N.J. church where she served as volunteer website administrator, the attorney’s office said. She gave her Indian counterpart the username and password, without the church’s knowledge, it alleged.
Robert faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge, and 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for her charge of violations of the Arms Export Control Act.