Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Eyad Farah (42, Barrington, TX) to three years and one month in federal prison for conspiring to export firearms without a license, exporting firearms without a license, and smuggling firearms from the United States.  The Court also ordered him to forfeit seven firearms that are traceable to the offenses.  Farah pleaded guilty on September 22, 2015.

According to court documents, Farah was part of a network of individuals involved in smuggling firearms from the United States to the Middle East. The firearms were concealed in vehicles that had been purchased at used car auctions in Central Florida.  The vehicles were then scheduled for export to Jordan.

Farah’s co-conspirator, Mahmoud Abdel-Ghani Mohammad Assaf, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and is currently awaiting sentencing. Yasser Ahmad Obeid, a defendant in a related case, has also pleaded guilty.  In December 2014, he was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Josephine W. Thomas and Adam M. Saltzman.

###