2 supporters of Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are sentenced in NY court for arms deal scheme
By APFriday, January 22, 2010
2 Tamil Tiger backers sentenced to US prison
NEW YORK — Two supporters of the now-defeated Tamil Tiger insurgents in Sri Lanka have been sentenced in New York to prison in the United States.
Nadarasa Yogarasa (NAH’-duh-rah-suh YOH’-guh-rah-suh) and Sathajhan Sarachandran (SAH’-thuh-jahn sah-ruh-CHAN’-drahn) had pleaded guilty last year to providing material support to terrorists.
Sarachandran received 26 years behind bars on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn. Yogarasa got a 14-year term.
The FBI lured the pair from Canada in 2006 to a meeting in New York with undercover agents posing as arms dealers. They were arrested after allegedly agreeing to a shipment of 10 surface-to-air missiles and 500 AK-47s.
Government forces routed the Tamil insurgency last year to end more than 25 years of civil war.
