OAKLAND – A 40-year-old Oakland man is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to trying to illegally export guns and night vision rifle scopes to the Sultanate of Oman, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
Fares Abdo Al Eyani admitted in a plea agreement that he obtained no fewer than four firearms, along with magazines and ammunition, and at least 44 rifle scopes, monoculars and goggles with night vision capabilities, prosecutors said in news release.
Al Eyani did not have a license to export the weapons and at least seven of the scopes.
The Justice Department said Al Eyani tried to ship the weapons to the sultanate in November 2019. He did so by disassembling them, wrapping them in aluminum foil and hiding them within vehicles inside a shipping container departing the Port of Oakland.
The following month, Al Eyani tried to export the scopes, monoculars and goggles in a pair of shipping containers also departing the Port of Oakland, prosecutors said.
Authorities searched the containers and seized the items, according to the Justice Department.
In a separate plea agreement, Al Eyani’s wife, Saba Mohsen Dhaifallah, pleaded guilty to making false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer scheduled Al Eyani’s and Dhaifallah’s sentencing hearings for March 22.
In addition to a maximum prison term of 20 years, Al Eyani could be fined as much as $1 million. Dhaifallah, 41, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.