Man gets prison for illegal work as Yemeni agent

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A Bakersfield man has been sentenced to five years in prison after admitting to working illegally as an agent for the government of Yemen.

Amen Ahmed Ali was sentenced Friday by a federal judge after he pleaded guilty in October to exporting military equipment, possession of stolen U.S. property and conspiracy to act as an illegal agent for a foreign country.

Besides serving time in prison, the 60-year-old Ali was also ordered to serve an additional three years of supervised release.

Federal prosecutors say Ali worked for Yemen between 1997 and 2006, shipping off bulletproof vests, chemical protective suits and other equipment to the country.

They say he also bought and shipped night-vision goggles, laptop computers and satellite phones sold to him by an undercover FBI agent posing as a U.S. Army soldier.