DOJ reached a settlement with a Washington state-based firearms manufacturer, Aero Precision, over claims that it violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by "screening out" non-U.S. citizen job candidates, including asylees and refugees, DOJ announced. The INA says that asylees and refugees have the same eligibility to work jobs involving defense-related information as U.S. citizens, including for items controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Carmen Gallegos, a New Mexico woman, was sentenced last week to 50 months in prison for participating in a scheme to buy firearms in Texas and New Mexico and export them to Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced. Gallegos participated in a conspiracy to buy at least 23 firearms over two months, then smuggle them into Mexico. She listed a Texas address on three different Firearm Transaction Records when her actual place of residence was in New Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. She pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the U.S.

Yanjun Xu, a Chinese national and the first Chinese government intelligence official to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial, was sentenced Nov. 16 to 20 years in prison, DOJ announced. Xu stole trade secrets from American aviation companies by recruiting employees to travel to China and then stealing their proprietary information on behalf of the Chinese government, the U.S. said. A federal jury in November 2021 convicted Xu on all counts: conspiracy to commit economic espionage, conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, attempted economic espionage and attempted trade secret theft (see 2111080021).

Three U.S. citizens and Quadrant Magnetics were charged with wire fraud, violating the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling goods relating to their participation in an illegal scheme to ship export-controlled defense-related technical data to China, DOJ announced. They also allegedly supplied DOD with Chinese-origin rare earth magnets for aviation systems and military items, DOJ said.

Michael Monegro, a Philippines national, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for fatally stabbing a fellow crewmember on a cargo container ship sailing from Shanghai to Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Monegro pleaded guilty in May to one count of committing an act of violence against a person onboard a ship that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of the ship (see 2205030014).

Herdade Lokua and Jospin Mujangi, citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo, were sentenced, respectively, to 20 months and 14 months in prison for their roles in a scheme to smuggle wildlife products from the DRC to Seattle, DOJ announced. Both defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy and Lacey Act charges.

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, Bolivia's former minister of government, pleaded guilty Oct. 20 to conspiracy to launder bribes received in exchange for helping a U.S. company secure a $5.6 million contract from the Bolivian government, DOJ announced. Murillo faces a maximum 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut charged a group of European individuals and entities with violating U.S. export laws by trying to ship a dual-use export-controlled item to Russia, the office announced Oct. 19, the day after the indictment was unsealed. The investigation was coordinated by the Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency group that also works with other countries to enforce U.S. sanctions.

Five Russian nationals and two oil traders were charged in a 12-count indictment unsealed Oct. 19 for their role in a global procurement, smuggling and money laundering network, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. The Russian nationals are Yury Orekhov, Artem Uss, Svetlana Kuzurgasheva, Timofey Telegin and Sergey Tulyakov. The oil traders are Juan Fernando Serrano Ponce and Juan Carlos Soto. The oil traders allegedly brokered illegal oil deals for a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, as part of the scheme.

French global building materials manufacturer Lafarge along with its Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, pleaded guilty on Oct. 18 to conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and the al-Nusrah Front, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. Both ISIS and ANF are sanctioned foreign terrorist organizations. Immediately following the guilty pleas, Judge William Kuntz sentenced the companies to probation terms and financial penalties. The companies will pay $90.78 million in criminal fines and $687 million in forfeiture, totaling $777.78 million.