Defense executives get probation in U.S.-Indian export case

Two defense company executives have been sentenced to three years of probation for violating U.S. export laws by selling technology that helped India build better nuclear missiles.

Walter Lachman, 72, of Concord, Massachusetts, was sentenced to spend the first year of his probation in home detention. Maurice Subilia Jr., 58, of Kennebunkport, Maine, will serve the first six months of his probation in a halfway house, followed by one year of home detention.

Both men were convicted in 1995 of violating federal export rules aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. A jury found that Lachman and Subilia had sold equipment that helped India improve its Agni medium-range nuclear missile.

In August 2003, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock overturned their convictions, saying that language in export regulations was too vague and did not make it clear what is allowed and what is prohibited.

But in October 2004, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated their convictions.

Lachman was chief executive officer of Fiber Materials Inc., of Biddeford, Maine, and president of its wholly owned subsidiary, Materials International of Acton, Massachusetts. Subilia was president of Fiber Materials and clerk of Materials International.

The companies were also convicted during the 1995 trial.

Lachman and Subilia were sentenced by Woodlock Friday after a five-day sentencing hearing. Woodlock also imposed a fine of $250,000 (Ђ211,670) on Lachman, Subilia and Fiber Materials Inc., AP reported. V.A.