POSTED: 4:18 pm PDT July 28, 2008SEATTLE -- A Fort Lewis Army Captain pleaded guilty in a Seattle court Monday to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States after he admitted to shipping firearms parts to Japan.
Tomoaki Iishiba, 34, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and $250,000 fine. His sentencing is set for November 7.
Iishiba joined the U.S. Army in 1999 and is assigned at Fort Lewis as an Assistant Operations Officer.
In a plea agreement, Iishiba admitted that between 2006 and February 2008, he shipped holographic night vision compatible firearm sights, 550 firearm sights; upper receivers and various scopes to individuals and business contacts in Japan.
Iishiba also admitted he purposely mislabeled the customs form for the shipment because he knew he needed a license to ship the firearms parts to Japan.
In the plea agreement, the government and Iishiba’s attorney agree to jointly recommend a sentence of three years probation noting that “the defendant did not intend to threaten a security or foreign policy interest of the United States, and that defendant’s conduct did not constitute such a threat.” U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman is not bound by that recommendation when she imposes sentence.
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