Ex-Irvine man pleads guilty to sending combat equipment to Syria insurgents

A former Irvine resident pleaded guilty in a Virginia federal court to violating U.S. sanctions by conspiring to send tactical gear to a terrorist-linked insurgent group in Syria.

U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted Amin al-Baroudi’s guilty plea Jan. 15, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Baroudi is scheduled to be sentenced May 6 and could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Baroudi is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Syria, according to the Justice Department.

Baroudi, 50, admitted that from 2011 to 2013 he helped transport sniper rifle scopes, night-vision goggles, bulletproof vests and other combat equipment to Ahrar al-Sham and other Islamist groups trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a news release from the Justice Department.

According to the Justice Department, Ahrar al-Sham’s goal is to install an Islamic government in place of Assad. Department officials said Ahrar al-Sham’s members often partner with Al Qaeda’s arm in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusrah, which has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.

Prosecutors alleged that Baroudi and a group of co-conspirators bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of tactical gear in the United States and took it to Turkey with them aboard commercial flights.

Once in Turkey, they would take the gear to Syria or have someone else transport it there for them, according to prosecutors.

Baroudi participated in two such trips in February and March 2013, according to the Justice Department.

During the February trip, Baroudi took 14 pieces of checked luggage with him. He declared to the airline that the bags contained clothes when they really held items such as rifle scopes, walkie-talkies, flashlights, handcuffs and radio scanners, according to court documents.

During the March trip, he had four checked bags of gear, documents state.

A federal grand jury indicted Baroudi in April 2015, and authorities arrested him at Washington Dulles International Airport in December after he arrived on a flight from Saudi Arabia, according to court documents.