Lebanese man sentenced to prison for role in gun smuggling operation

CEDAR RAPIDS - A federal judge sentenced a Lebanese man Wednesday to nearly five years in prison for negotiating a deal to buy guns in Lebanon without an export license, with the guns later being shipped from Cedar Rapids by a family convicted last year of gun smuggling.

Fadi Yassine, 43, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act - not having a license to export guns. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence but he likely will be deported because he's not a U.S. citizen.

Yassine, who was arrested on a warrant when he arrived in New York City on an international flight Feb. 6, admitted during the plea hearing to conspiring with one or more people to broker guns, and shipping and transporting firearms without a license between late 2013 and May 12, 2015.

U.S. District Judge Linda Reade said the evidence shows Yassine provided or trafficked firearms into southern Lebanon, which is controlled by Hezbollah, a group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. Yassine was involved with his cousin, a member of Hezbollah, in acquiring guns, and made gun recommendations to Bassem Herz, 31, who along with his brother Ali Al Herz, 51, his nephew Adam Al Herz, 23, and his wife Sarah Zeaiter, 24, purchased firearms in Iowa and shipped them to Lebanon.

Reade said the evidence also shows that Yassine was involved in two shipments with the Al Herz family and responsible for trafficking at least 100 firearms in 2014.

Those two shipments were not intercepted but two others were in 2015 that led to the convictions of the Al Herz family and to Yassine's involvement.

The number of weapons enhanced Yassine's prison time and Reade rejected an argument by Yassine's lawyer that he didn't know the number of weapons being shipped.

Two agents with the Department of Homeland Security and Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives testified during Wednesday's hearing and said Yassine was involved with the first two shipments in 2014, which contained at least 100 guns. There is no firearms database, so agents said the number of guns was a 'conservative estimate.” Some of the firearms may have been purchased from unlicensed or private sellers, which the agents said would be impossible to identify.

Evidence showed that Bassem Herz and Yassine communicated over secure cellphone apps regarding most of the gun transactions. Some of the communication also occurred on Facebook.

One of the agents also testified about evidence of Yassine giving $30,000 in cash to Ali Al Herz in Lebanon for him to acquire more guns in the United States.

The Al Herz family members were convicted last year for smuggling guns from Cedar Rapids to Lebanon and are all serving federal prison terms.

The initial investigation of the Al Herz family led to the March 2015 seizure of 53 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition concealed inside Bobcat skid loaders within a shipping container at the Norfolk, Va., seaport bound for Lebanon. A subsequent investigation led to the May 2015 seizure of a second shipping container, loaded at Midamar Corp. in Cedar Rapids, also destined for Lebanon, with 99 guns and ammunition concealed inside skid loaders.

Evidence presented during hearings showed the containers were bound for southern Lebanon. But the evidence showed none of the Al Herz family was part of Hezbollah. Prosecutors said the motive for the crime was greed, as the guns could be sold for 10 times their value in Lebanon than in the United States.

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