Rinko admits exports to Syria

PETER CAMERON, Times-Shamrock Writer

Appearing in federal court in Scranton on Tuesday (Sept. 16), a Susquehanna County man pleaded guilty to conspiring to export to Syria laboratory equipment used to detect chemical warfare agents.

Harold Rinko, 72, of Hallstead, faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, said Amanda Endy, secretary to the United States Attorney in Harrisburg.

Prosecutors say Rinko, the owner of Global Parts Supply in Hallstead, conspired with two other men to ship goods, including scanners that detect chemical warfare agents, to Syria from 2003 until 2012.

An indictment states the trio circumvented federal law that requires a license to export goods, other than humanitarian supplies and medicines, to Syria. The law is designed to shut down the supply chain used by the country to support terrorism and develop weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons.

The men perpetrated the scheme by creating false invoices that mislabeled the goods and provided false information as to where the purchasers of the items where located, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The charges were the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security.

According to the indictment, items shipped included: a portable gas scanner used in the detection of chemical warfare agents; a handheld instrument for field detection of chemical warfare agents and toxic chemicals; a rubber mask for civil defense against chemicals and gases; a meter used to measure chemicals and their composition; a stirrer for mixing and testing chemical compounds; industrial engines; and a device used to locate buried pipeline.

According to the indictment, the items were shipped from the United States to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom and then transferred to Syria.

Susquehanna County Independent staff writer Staci Wilson contributed to this report.