Peter Ajak of Maryland was sentenced on Feb. 6 to 46 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export weapons to South Sudan, DOJ said. His co-conspirator, Abraham Keech of Utah, was sentenced in December 2025 to 41 months in prison. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and the Export Control Reform Act.

Japanese national Shota Yamamoto pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act through the export of firearms parts and tactical accessories from the U.S. to Japan without licenses, DOJ announced last week. The agency said Yamamoto planned to use the parts to retrofit airsoft equipment for sale to airsoft "enthusiasts" in Japan seeking "highly realistic equipment."

The State Department this week announced penalties on one person and four entities and their subsidiaries for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The agency in a notice said the parties transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The State Department barred them from making certain purchases of items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act and will suspend any current export licenses. The agency also will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The restrictions will remain in place for two years from the Jan. 22 effective date.

Kyrgyz national Sergei Zharnovnikov was sentenced to 39 months in prison for conspiracy to export U.S.-origin firearms and ammunition to Russia, DOJ announced last week. Zharnovnikov pleaded guilty in June to the conspiracy charge (see 2506260008) and now faces deportation, since he doesn't have lawful permanent resident status in the U.S.

Sergey Nechaev, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen who was arrested in December 2024 for trying to export two small aircraft to Russia (see 2412020056), was sentenced Jan. 15 to 41 months in prison for his role in the scheme, DOJ announced. Nechaev pleaded guilty in September to attempting to ship controlled goods without a license in violation of the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling and causing the submission of false information through Electronic Export Information paperwork in the the U.S. Automated Export System.

An Indian national was sentenced Jan. 15 to 30 months in prison for conspiring with others to illegally "export controlled aviation components and a navigation and flight control system to end users in Russia," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon announced. Sanjay Kaushik pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to sell export-controlled dual-use goods to Russian end users.

Jinchao Wei, a former sailor with the U.S. Navy who was found guilty in August of illegally exporting military information and technical data to China (see 2508210039), was sentenced this week to 200 months in prison. Wei was convicted on several counts, including espionage and illegally exporting technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

The Bureau of Industry and Security on Dec. 15 suspended the export privileges of six people after they were convicted of export-related offenses, including illegal shipments involving guns to Mexico, dual-use parts to Russia, items to Chinese companies on the Entity List, and more. The suspensions took effect from the date of their convictions.

Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology filed its opening brief in its appeal of its case contesting its designation as a "Chinese military company," arguing that the Pentagon adopted an "absurdly broad reading of" the law, Section 1260H, and that the lower court "adopted a capacious view of the [Defense] Department's listing authority and a cramped view of Hesai's obvious prejudice" (Hesai Technology v. U.S. Dep't of Defense, D.C. Cir. # 25-5256).

Taiwan has charged a local subsidiary of chip equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron for failing to prevent in the alleged theft of sensitive semiconductor technology earlier this year.