A federal court in Virginia sentenced a man from Abdul Hakim village in Khanewal to 40 years in prison after convicting him of supplying weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, court records and prosecutors said. The court also rejected his lawyer’s plea for leniency.
U.S. authorities arrested the Pakistani national during a January 11 special operation in the Arabian Sea carried out by the U.S. Navy, officials said. Two U.S. Navy personnel died after drowning during that operation, the government added.
Prosecutors accused the defendant, who worked aboard a vessel owned by an Iranian national, of shipping Iranian-made lethal materiel to Houthi forces. The indictment alleges the cargo included components for ballistic missiles, parts for anti-ship cruise missiles, and warheads, all destined for the rebel group, prosecutors said.
During sentencing, the court accepted evidence recovered by investigators and described the defendant’s role as central to a scheme that moved sophisticated weaponry from Iran toward Yemen, U.S. prosecutors told the court. Authorities say financial and logistical records and seized materials tied the suspect to the transfers.
The defence urged clemency, citing mitigating circumstances, but the judge denied the request and imposed a 40-year custodial term. The defendant also faces asset forfeiture and other penalties outlined in the court’s judgment.