Military Optics Technology to China, Russia, Turkey and South Korea

On June 22, 2010, in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Rocky Mountain Instrument Company (RMI), a Colorado corporation located in Lafayette, Colorado, pled guilty to one count of knowingly and willfully exporting defense articles without a license in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. The company was then immediately sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to forfeit $1,000,000. Between April 2005 and October 2007, RMI exported from the United States to Turkey, South Korea, the People’s Republic of China, and Russia, prisms and technical data related to various optics used in military applications, which were designated as defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List, without having first obtained the required export licenses. The military technology that RMI illegally exported consisted of guidance or targeting systems used in such military items as unmanned aerial vehicles, AC-130 gunships, Abrams tanks, TOW missile systems, and Bradley fighting vehicles. RMI was originally charged by criminal information on March 17, 2010. The case was investigated by ICE and DCIS.