Fla. man agrees to plead guilty in ammo sales case
Lawyer Blogs
A U.S. military contractor accused in a scheme to illegally ship nearly $300 million in Chinese-made ammunition to Afghan soldiers has agreed to a plea deal that could send him to prison for up to five years.
Under the deal, prosecutors will drop 84 counts of wrongdoing in exchange for 23-year-old Efraim Diveroli pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge. He could also be fined up to $250,000.
Diveroli was president and owner of AEY Inc., the Miami Beach firm awarded a $298 million U.S. Army contract in 2007 to provide the ammunition to Afghanistan. The contract forbade exporting Chinese ammunition, but prosecutors say the company did it anyway and claimed the rounds were from Albania.
AEY bought much of the ammunition from Albania's Military Export and Import Co., which had purchased huge amounts of Chinese ammunition from 1958 to 1974. Authorities say AEY then repackaged it to remove all traces of the Chinese manufacturer and provided the Army with written certification that the ammunition had come from Albania.
Congressional investigators also found in 2008 that AEY provided potentially unsafe helmets to troops in Iraq, failed to deliver 10,000 pistols to Iraq, and shipped inferior ammunition to U.S. Army special forces. The Pentagon and State Department have terminated or withdrawn numerous contracts with AEY over failure to perform, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
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Is Now the Time to Really Call a Special Education Lawyer?
IDEA, FAPE, CHILD FIND and IEPs: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees all children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). FAPE starts with a school’s responsibility to identify that a child has a disability (Child Find) and create an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to suit the needs of the child.
Forte Law Group is one of only a very few law firms within the state of Connecticut that is dedicated to exclusively representing families and children with special needs.
Parents need to be persistent, dedicated and above all else aware of the many services and accommodations that their child is entitled to under the law. As early as this point within your child’s special education, many parents will often find themselves in the situation asking, “is now the time to really call a special education lawyer?” Here are a few things to consider when asking yourself that question.