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Pennsylvania man convicted of torture, exporting weapons to Iraq

A federal jury convicted a Pennsylvania man earlier this month for several crimes, including torture and exporting weapons parts and services to Iraq.

Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, arranged for Kurdish soldiers to abduct and detain an Estonian citizen at a Kurdish military compound where Roggio suffocated the victim with a belt and directed Kurdish soldiers to repeatedly physically and mentally abuse the victim over a 39-day period, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial.

The victim was employed at a weapons factory that Roggio was developing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq that was intended to manufacture automatic rifles and 9mm pistols, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Roggio also illegally exported firearm parts that were controlled for export by the Departments of State and Commerce.

“Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in a news release. “Thanks to the courage of the victim and other witnesses, the hard work of U.S. law enforcement, and the assistance of Estonian authorities, he will now be held accountable for his cruelty.”

Roggio was convicted of torture, conspiracy to commit torture, conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, exporting weapons parts and services to Iraq without the approval of the Department of State, exporting weapons tools to Iraq without the approval of the Department of Commerce, smuggling goods, wire fraud, and money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23 and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Roggio is the second defendant to be convicted of torture since the federal torture statute went into effect in 1994.

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