California Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Act as a Foreign Agent, Export Military Equipment, and Possess Stolen Property

FRESNO, CA—Amen Ahmed Ali, 60, aka Ali Amin Alrowhani or Ameen Alrohany, of Bakersfield, California, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to five years in prison to be followed by three years’ supervised release for conspiring to act as an illegal agent of a foreign government, to unlawfully export defense materials, and to possess stolen government property, announced U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

Ali pled guilty to the charges on Oct. 7, 2010, admitting that, beginning in about 1987, he conspired with others to act as an unregistered agent of the government of Yemen and received instructions and acted on behalf of the Armed Forces Department of the Republic of Yemen.

Ali also admitted in the plea agreement that in 2003, he conspired with another person to cause various defense, articles including bulletproof vests and chemical protective suits, to be exported to Yemen without a license. Finally, Ali admitted in his plea agreement that in late 2005 and early 2006, he negotiated with an undercover FBI agent to obtain and ship to Yemen materials that he believed were stolen U.S. military equipment, including night vision goggles, satellite telephones, and laptop computers.

This case was the product of a long-term investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which involved members of the FBI, Bakersfield Police Department, the Kern County Sheriff's Office, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Duce Rice and Stanley Boone and Trial Attorney Clifford Rones of the Department of Justice’s Counterespionage Section.