February 25, 2009
Erin Mulvey
Public Information Officer
212 337-2906
International Arms Trafficker Monzer Al Kassar and Associate Sentenced
on Terrorism Charges
FEB 25  -- 
(MANHATTAN, NY) -
DEA Acting Administrator
Michele M. Leonhartand Lev L. Dassin, 
the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that
Monzer Al Kassar, a/k/a "AbuMunawar," a
/k/a "El Taous," the leader of an international armstrafficking organization, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to be used to kill Americans in Colombia.
  
Al Kassar's
associate and co-defendant
Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy
was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy.
  
United States District Judge
Jed S. Rakoff
imposed the sentences today in Manhattan federal court.
Al Kassar
and
Moreno Godoy 
had both been found guilty on November 20, 2008, following a threeweek jury trial, of: (1) conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; (2) conspiracy to murder U.S. officers; (3) conspiracy to acquire and export antiaircraft missiles; (4) conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the "FARC"), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and (5) money laundering.
  
According to the evidence at trial:
As part of an undercover DEA sting operation, between February 2006 and June 2007,
Al Kassar
and
Moreno Godoy
agreed to sell to the FARC more than 12,000 weapons -- including thousands of machine guns, rocketpropelled grenade launchers, and surfacetoair missile systems, or "SAMs" -- along with 2
million rounds of ammunition.
  
The agreement was discussed and made during a series of recorded telephone calls, email correspondence, and in-person meetings with two confidential sources working with the DEA, who represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC, with the specific understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack United States helicopters in Colombia.
During their meetings,
Al Kassar
provided the DEA sources with, among other things: (1) a schematic of the vessel to be used to transport the weapons; (2) specifications for the SAMs he agreed to sell to the FARC; and (3) bank accounts in Spain and Lebanon which ultimately were used to receive and conceal more than $400,000 sent from DEA undercover accounts that the DEA sources represented were FARC drug proceeds for the weapons deal.
  
During his meetings with the DEA sources,
Al Kassar
reviewed Nicaraguan enduser certificates and accepted them despite knowing that the arms were destined for the FARC in Colombia.

Al Kassar
also promised to provide the FARC with tonlevel quantities of C4 explosives, as well as expert trainers to teach the FARC how to effectively use C4 and other explosive devices against the United States.
  
In addition,
Al Kassar
offered to send a thousand men to fight with the FARC against U.S. military officers in Colombia, and to make training camps in
Al Kassar
's country available to the FARC.
In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge
Rakoff
also

sentenced both
Al Kassar
and
Moreno Godoy
to 5 years supervised release.

Al Kassar
was also ordered to forfeit all foreign and domestic assets.
This case was the result of cooperation between the DEA, the Spanish National Police, and the Romanian Border Police.
Mr. D
assin
 praised the investigative work of the DEA, the Spanish National Police, and the Romanian Border Police.
  
Mr.
 Dassin
also thanked the United States Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and the United States Department of State.
  
He further expressed appreciation to the United States Embassies in Spain and Romania.