NASHVILLE, March 29 (UPI) -- Four U.S. executives have admitted violating the Arms Export Control Act and agreed to testify against their company's British owner, prosecutors say.
The four were all officers with Sabre Defence Industries LLC, which was based in Nashville, Tenn. The owner of the company, Guy Savage, 42, is fighting extradition from Britain, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
At a hearing Monday, all four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violating the arms export law, which regulates international sales of military equipment. The defendants include Charles Shearon, 55, of Ashland City, Tenn., the former president; Chief Financial Officer Elmer Hill, 64, of Brentwood, Tenn.; Director of Marketing and Sales Michael Curlett, 44, of Hermitage, Tenn.; and International Shipping and Purchasing Manager Arnold See Jr., 54, of Antioch, Tenn.
Prosecutors said the company also imported silencers from Finland without permits, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported. They described the company's books as a work of fiction, including invoices from "fairyland."
At the hearing, prosecutors said some of the arms illegally exported from Tennessee ended up in the Middle East. But Shearon's lawyer, Glenn Funk, said everything shipped from Nashville went to Britain.
