Three Convicted Of Conspiring To Buy Missile For IRA


11 December 1990
The Associated Press

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Three Irishmen were convicted Tuesday of conspiring to buy a Stinger missile for the Irish Republican Army after a trial that prompted criticism from jurors of federal sting operations.

Kevin McKinley of Riviera Beach, Seamus Moley of Toronto, and Joseph McColgan of Dundalk, Ireland, were found guilty of two of five charges in U.S. District Court.

They were convicted of a conspiracy count that they attempted to obtain military weapons to use against British forces in Northern Ireland and attempting to obtain a Stinger surface-to-air missile.

Each was acquitted of three remaining charges - attempting to transport an explosive in foreign commerce, attempting to export defense articles without a license and violating the Neutrality Act.

The men, who have been held without bond since January, each face a maximum sentence of 15 years. Sentencing was set for Feb. 22, 1991.

Jurors said they felt their hands were tied when U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez ruled they could not consider entrapment as a defense. "It's a shame that the government spent tons of money to entrap these three guys who really weren't looking for any trouble," said juror Fabio Majia.

Defense attorney Fred Haddad added, "If the judge had allowed them to consider entrapment, these men would be on their way to the airport boarding a plane for Ireland right now."

The government's case was based on the trio's attempts to buy a Stinger missile from undercover agents posing as arms dealers. The defendants claimed they were with the IRA and wanted to use the Stinger to shoot down a British helicopter in Northern Ireland, the government said.

Federal agents showed them a realistic model of the Stinger to see if they were serious about the deal. The missile had a genuine infrared guidance system, but no rocket fuel or explosives in the warhead.

The defendants then produced $50,000 to buy the missile. Agents arrested all three Jan. 12 in Palm Beach County after McColgan placed the missile in a car so he could ride away with it.

Robert J. Creighton, special agent in charge of the Miami district for U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, praised the conviction. "This will strike a significant blow against the Irish Republican Army operations within the United States," he said.

Defense attorneys argued during the month-long trial that government destroyed key tape recordings, entrapped their clients and used a "psychopathic gun nut" as an informant.

Prosecutors warned jurors to set aside any personal feelings about the historic conflict in Ireland and consider violations of U.S. law.

The IRA is fighting to drive the British out of Northern Ireland and unite the Protestant-dominated province with the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Irish Republic under a leftist administration. More than 2,800 people have been killed in political and sectarian violence in the province since 1969.


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