NBC Newser Sold High Tech to Iran
An NBC News cameraman pled guilty in Philadelphia on Monday to attempting to sell banned technology to Iran.
Erik Kyriacou, 24, of North Babylon, New York, had been charged with four federal counts, including trying to export technology to an "axis of evil" country, reported Long Island's Newsday.
Kyriacou was arrested in April after offering four Astroscope night-vision lenses for sale on eBay. In January 2004 he was contacted by an undercover customs agent posing as an international arms trader named "Akbar," who explained he wanted to deliver them to Iran.
After agreeing on an $8,000 sale price with the undercover agent, the NBC lensman shipped the banned material to an address in Vienna, Austria, Newsday said, sourcing court papers.
The lenses were stolen from NBC, where Kyriacou worked as a news cameraman, according to prosecutors.
Kyriacou faces up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine, although his attorney, Robert Welsh, told Newsday he expected his client to receive a far less severe sentence.
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