WASHINGTON, June 10 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Douglas Edward Robertson, a former vice president of US-based trading firm KanRus Trading Company Inc., has been sentenced by a federal court in Kansas to two years and eight months in prison in a case involving alleged illegal exports of aviation equipment to Russia and violations of US money laundering laws, according to a court ruling published on Wednesday.

The sentence was handed down after Robertson pleaded guilty to charges brought by the US authorities, admitting that he, along with US citizen Kirill Buyanovsky and Latvian citizen Oleg Chistyakov, had purchased and exported US-made aviation electronic equipment to customers in Russia.

The sentence was significantly below the maximum penalty he faced in light of his guilty plea. Robertson could have received up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, up to 20 years on each of two counts related to export control violations, and up to 20 years on the money laundering charge.

Following an informal request from the prosecution, the sentencing hearing for Buyanovsky, previously scheduled for July 21, has also been postponed to July 28.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar