New York, Jun 10 : Four Tamil-Americans, who have been accused of providing material support - including purchase of arms and ammunition - to the Tigers, have pleaded guilty in a court here.
"Just weeks after the LTTE's leaders in Sri Lanka were defeated in that country, the leader of the LTTE in the United States and other supporters have been brought to justice," said US Attorney Benton J Campbell.
The four accused are -- Karunakaran Kandasamy also known as Karuna; Pratheepan Thavaraja also known as Raja Pratheepan, Thambi Sampras and Steeban; Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy also known as Dr Moorthy and Vinayagamoorthy Murugesu; and Vijayshanthar Patpanathan also known as Chandru.
"The defendants were convicted for their involvement in efforts to raise millions of dollars and acquire arms and technology for use by the LTTE," Campbell said.
The guilty plea proceedings were held before Chief United States District Judge Raymond Dearie. Kandasamy and Pratheepan face a 20-year maximum statutory sentence, while Vinayagamoorthy and Patpanathan face a 15-year maximum statutory sentence.
Justice Department said Kandasamy was the director of the American branch of the LTTE, which operated through charitable front organisations, including the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO).
12:30 AM
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