3 Convicted of Sending Guns to Ireland
Three men were convicted Tuesday of shipping weapons to Ireland but acquitted of the most serious charges against them.
Conor Claxton, Martin Mullan and Anthony Smyth were acquitted on charges of shipping weapons to terrorists and conspiracy to maim or murder people in a foreign country.
If they had been convicted of the more serious charges, they could have faced up to life in prison.
Claxton, a 27-year-old Northern Ireland resident; Mullan, a 30-year-old Philadelphia handyman; and Smyth, a 43-year-old car salesman in Weston, a Fort Lauderdale suburb, were arrested in July. All three are Roman Catholic natives of Northern Ireland.
They were accused of buying guns and ammunition in Florida and then mailing them to Ireland for the Irish Republican Army, which has waged a long battle against the British government in Northern Ireland. Police intercepted 23 packages containing 122 guns and other weapons.
Claxton was convicted on 39 counts. He faces a maximum sentence of 275 years in prison.
Smyth was convicted on 31 counts and faces a maximum penalty of 116 years; Mullan was convicted of 10 counts and faces a maximum 63 years.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
