Six convicted of arms deals in NY federal court

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2425137720070724

Six convicted of arms deals in NY federal court

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Armenian and South African were convicted by a federal jury on Tuesday of agreeing to smuggle Russian military arms into the United States including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other weapons.

Artur Solomonyan, 28, from Armenia, and Christiaan Dewet Spies, 35, from South Africa, and four other men were found guilty in Manhattan federal court of charges including arms trafficking conspiracy and arms trafficking.

Prosecutors said Solomonyan and Spies were the group's ringleaders who met with an informant from 2003 to 2005 and sold him a machine gun and assault weapons and delivered them to Los Angeles, Florida and New York. snip

Both Solomonyan and Spies had been entrapped by the informant and were lured by the promise of green cards, or residency permits, that would allow the two illegal immigrants to work in the United States, defense lawyers argued.