WASHINGTON – A man accused of being half of a father-son team that provided weapons illegally to Saddam Hussein (search)'s government in Iraq has been brought to the United States to face charges, authorities said Monday.
Regard Yakou (search), 43, was flown Sunday from Kuwait (search) to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and was scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Brooklyn, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (search) spokesman Garrison Courtney.
Yakou was arrested Oct. 11 in Baghdad after a meeting was set up with undercover ICE agents, Courtney said.
Yakou is charged along with his father, 69-year-old Sabri Yakou, with violating U.S. arms control laws in a scheme to provide Iraq with six sophisticated patrol boats prior to the recent war that toppled Saddam.
The elder Yakou was released in the custody of a family member living in the Washington area last week. The two men have ties to California and the son is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Each man could face up to 10 years in prison and $1 million in fines if convicted.
ICE officials say they have more than two dozen investigations under way into illegal acquisition of conventional arms by Saddam.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox