Sparrow Missile System Stopped on Way to China
EmailA New Jersey businessman has pled guilty to shipping components of a medium-range missile guidance system to China rather than smelt them down as required under a contract with the Department of Defense.
Michael Dorfmann, Vice President for Purchasing at State Metal Industries, Camden, N.J., pled guilty Tuesday to shipping Sparrow Missile system parts to China after obtaining them from the Department of Defense as surplus. He faces five years of federal probation and a quarter of a million dollar fine. State Metal also pled guilty. It faces three years of corporate probation and a quarter of a million dollar fine for violating export laws. The parts never arrived in China but were seized by Customs and Border Patrol during the process of export. They had been concealed in the nose of the container as far as possible from the access doors, according to the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey Christopher Christie. The Sparrow is a highly effective radar guided surface-to-air or air-to-air missile.
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These guys are traitors. They should face life in prison or may be even the death penalty.
Why just five years probation? Drug dealers, when caught, never see the light of day. I guess corporate goons are treated differently!!
Posted by: Phyllis Culbert | June 15, 2006, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
Throw the book at him. It’s people like that that are willing to sell their own mother’s as well just to make a few bucks.
Posted by: mike | June 15, 2006, 12:18 pm 12:18 pm
Five years PROBATION for an act of treason? HE should be smelted down.
Posted by: Mark Hammer | June 15, 2006, 12:27 pm 12:27 pm
Now if he was sending this stuff to Iran would he get off so easy? Well, just this past week the Dept. of Treasury reported that China is supplying WMD to Iran. So what’s the difference?
Posted by: John Weiss | June 15, 2006, 12:56 pm 12:56 pm
these people are surely traitors and should face life in prison . hard time. i wonder if the clintons have a piece of this action or if it was facilitated by the carlyle group. it’s your new world order at work. sic siempre tyrannis…
Posted by: marty scott | June 15, 2006, 1:19 pm 1:19 pm
He should be charged with treason and the company should be barred from doing business with any part of the U.S. government.
Posted by: Kenneth L. Henderson | June 15, 2006, 1:32 pm 1:32 pm
Just on the principal of it, he should have gotten prison time. I doubt the chinese government was seeking to purchase the missles. More likely a smaller group with an intent to use use it… Either way, it seems like there is a failure in how our government disposes of it’s surplus when missles are able to get out that easily.
Posted by: Shaun | June 15, 2006, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm
I can only imagine what the initial costs were to the tax payers for the missile systems, which the Dept. of Defence is now selling as surplus. It’s interesting, I wonder what his bottom line earnings were on the sale, and that only a quarter of a million dollar fine was impossed.
Posted by: Jm | June 15, 2006, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm
That just proves one does not have to be a rocket scientist to run things in this nation.
Posted by: MARK C | June 15, 2006, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
Why am I not surprised? Corporations sell their souls for more money all the time, without regard to what is right or wrong. It seems that the only “right” thing now is getting more money, at any cost to their fellow citizens. Or are we considered peasants who should be exploited? Any national pride, guys? How about morals? Conscience?
Posted by: Joe | June 15, 2006, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
WHY ONLY 5 YEARS, YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!!!!!!
Posted by: west | June 15, 2006, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
In a time of national security these individuals only get a slap on the hand. Where is the justice in our country right now for treason. Everyone here is affected by this. Treason use to carry a death penalty.
Posted by: Wayne D | June 15, 2006, 2:37 pm 2:37 pm
Comments above say it all…its treason..treat it accordingly.
Posted by: magellan | June 15, 2006, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
Come on, guys. He was doing you a favor. Don’t you think that somebody has to take care of that giant trade deficit you have with the People’s Republic of China?
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
Posted by: Chiang Kai-shek | June 15, 2006, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
I agree, they should be tried for treason. I guess they have friends in the right places. Thank god the sparrow system is old and outdated (the chinese probably have the schematics for the entire missile sitting on someones desk).
Posted by: Scott Poe | June 15, 2006, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
I love how Marty Scott makes the Clinton comment. Wake up and smell the Bush Admin. Marty. This is the year 2006. Boy George has been in office for 6 years now. Remember when you would blame this kind of thing on the Prez and his friends in Congress ? Well guess what ? It still is the Prezs falt except we have a new Prez you stuck in office. So I guess that makes it who’s falt ?
Posted by: Patrick Sullivan | June 15, 2006, 4:29 pm 4:29 pm
The people of this country know this is going on and yet they keep buy from the very company’s that are doing it.
Exp. Dodge pick-ups are built in Mexico any yet people keep buying them, No way i would buy one and if people were like me they would move that truck plant back to the USA.
Posted by: Glen | June 15, 2006, 4:46 pm 4:46 pm
PROBATION AND A CORPORATE FINE HAS TO BE A JOKE. THIS USED TO BE CALLED TREASON. PERHAPS THIS IS JUST A CASE OF WHO YOU KNOW.
Posted by: BG | June 15, 2006, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm
Bush and Clinton ought to join this man as traitors. Clinton started the flow of illegals, Bush wants enemy countries to run our ports. Both are puppets of the oil industry. The more people are here, the more oil this country uses, get it?
Posted by: fred | June 15, 2006, 8:01 pm 8:01 pm
the reason he only got five years is because of our “interesting” relationship with china. As a communist country now, they pprobably were trying to buy the missiles, but signs are showing they will be a full capitilasy democracy soon and we don’t want to do anything to hurt our relationship and the process they are going through.
Posted by: ethan | June 15, 2006, 8:47 pm 8:47 pm
What difference does it make if they have have it China? They already have all of our factories , if we wanted one it would probably have to be built in China, that’s where you find all of America’s once great jobs and manufacturing!!! Our stupid government is too stupid to stop it……
Posted by: John | June 15, 2006, 8:57 pm 8:57 pm
Are ya suprised by the penalty… Just dig a little deeper and see which of our government officials own stock or has personal friends involved here. The cover-up begins… and who’s political party coffers was a portion of the profits going into. People the country isn’t run by anyone who cares about us little guys..
Posted by: chicory | June 15, 2006, 11:18 pm 11:18 pm
Does it ever end? No, it doesn’t.
Posted by: Erik | June 16, 2006, 11:11 am 11:11 am