U.S. soldier pleads guilty to scheme to send guns to Indonesia

A U.S. Army soldier who participated in a scheme to buy guns and send them to a security detail for the president and vice president of Indonesia plead guilty Wednesday to several charges in federal court.

Audi Sumilat pleaded guilty Tuesday and will be sentenced in October, the U.S. attorney’s office in New Hampshire said. The 36-year-old faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

One of Sumilat’s co-conspirators also has been charged and is scheduled to be tried on July 19.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Morse said there have been cases in New Hampshire and other states involving international firearms trafficking to countries including Ghana, Canada and Mexico.

“But this is the first case that I’m aware of in which the intended beneficiaries of the trafficking were representatives of a foreign government,” Morse said.

Authorities said Sumilat joined a conspiracy to buy guns in Texas and New Hampshire for members of the Indonesian Presidential Guard, who are tasked with providing security to the president and vice president but could not lawfully buy the weapons themselves.

Read More- Army Times

Image courtesy of Getty