Anna Fermanova
A 24-year-old Russian expat has been arrested and charged with espionage after being caught attempting to take restricted surveillance equipment with her to Russia.
The state-of-the-art night vision goggles and scopes were taken from Anna Fermanova earlier this year by customs officials as she boarded a flight from her Dallas, Texas home to Russia. She told officials the “generation 3 night vision” items were purchased online.
When asked if she was aware of regulations covering the export of such munitions, Fermanova said that she “signed something about that,” but was “not really sure what she was signing.”
Anna Fermanova
Fermanova was arrested upon her return to the States on July 15 and charged with “knowingly and intentionally” attempting to export “defense articles on the United States Munitions list.”
The arrest follows the much-publicized breaking up of a Russian spy ring last month that hid among the manicured lawns of suburban neighborhoods across America.
Fermanova’s attorney, Scott Palmer, told The Dallas Observer that his client bought the goggles for a friend in Russia who is into hunting, at her husband’s request.
“But it’s good timing for the New York press to slander her,” Palmer says. “She’s not a spy. The government’s not even saying that. She’s not a spy. There is no terrorism link, no espionage. It’s sexier than it looks, and that’s only because she’s attractive.”
Fermanova has had her passport confiscated and is under house arrest. She is expected to attend court in New York later this month where she faces up to 10 years in prison.
UPDATE (2011.01.17): Fermanova plead guilty to the gun-smuggling charges on Friday, January 14. The Latvian-born woman faces up to 57 months in prison when she is sentenced on April 29, reports The New York Post. Her lawyer hopes she will just get a long probation.
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Sukin sin!!
???? ?????????, also known as Anya Fermanov is a Latvian-Jew.