Former U.S. defense contractor Hannah Robert was sentenced to four years in federal prison for passing military technical data to a business partner in India and to another country and producing sub-standard parts of U.S. F-15 fighters. File photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI |
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WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- A former U.S. defense contractor with access to sensitive U.S. weapons systems has been sentenced to over four years in federal prison for passing information on those weapons to India.
Hannah Robert, 49, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act by exporting to India military technical drawings without prior approval of the U.S. Department of State, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She also pleaded guilty to manufacturing substandard components for U.S. weapons systems.
"Hannah Robert circumvented the U.S. government and provided export-controlled technical data related to various types of military technology to an individual in India," Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement issued Thursday.
Aside from passing military secrets to India, Robert also conspired to send "thousands of technical drawings of defense items and sensitive military data" to another unnamed country, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. An Indian partner of Robert, identified only as P.R., requested by email the documents for a trans-shipper with a United Arab Emirates address selling hardware to an end user in Pakistan.
As the founder and president of One Source USA LLC, Robert had secured contracts to provide technical hardware and spare parts to the Defense Department, according to case documents and witness testimony.
From June 2010 to December 2012, Robert handed over detailed drawings and design blueprints to P.R., including information on components used in the torpedoes on board U.S. nuclear submarines, as well as sensitive technical details for U.S. attack helicopters and F-15 fighters, according to court documents.
Aside from the conspiracy charge, substandard wing pins and other aeronautical components built by Robert's company for the F-15 fighter forced Pentagon officials to ground roughly 47 fighters for inspection and repair in 2012.
