Woman, 62, convicted in California of exporting thermal riflescopes to Russia
A 62-year-old woman convicted of illegally exporting “defense articles”, including thermal imaging riflescopes and night-vision goggles, to Russian co-conspirators has been sentenced to two years in prison, federal officials announced Monday.
Prosecutors with the United States Attorney’s Central District of California Office say Elana Shifrin, a resident of Mundelein, Illinois, participated in a scheme that exported more than 60 military-grade items to Russia between 2017 and 2020 without obtaining a valid license or approval from the State Department.
“Shifrin’s co-conspirators purchased the defense articles – including thermal riflescopes, weapons sights, monoculars and night-vision googles – from online sellers in the United States and directed the sellers to mail those items to Shifrin or other co-conspirators in Illinois and California,” a news release from the USAO stated.
“After receiving the items, Shifrin mailed them to co-conspirators in Russia without obtaining the required licenses.”
The 62-year-old attempted to conceal the illegal activity by listing fake sender names and addresses on the packages, as well as falsely identifying the products as “non-export-controlled” items, such as clothing.
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Prosecutors also said she hid the items in toolkits and kitchen appliances when exporting them.
A co-conspirator of Shifrin’s, 43-year-old Igor Panchernikov, a former resident of Corona who served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, pleaded guilty in March 2023 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act. In June 2023, he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
Two other defendants charged in the case, Russian citizen Boris Polosin and Israeli citizen Vladimir Gohman, are fugitives, according to prosecutors.
Shifrin pleaded guilty in March 2022 to one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and was sentenced this week to 24 months in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Los Angeles and Chicago Field Office’s investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations.
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