Pinoy sentenced for selling US spy plane on eBay

The Filipino who was caught selling a United States military spy plane on online auction and shopping site Ebay was sentenced last week, a report of the Asian Journal said. A Tampa (Florida) Federal court sentenced Henson Chua of Manila, Philippines to three years of supervised release, Asian Journal said. Chua was also ordered to pay a $13,000 fine for selling the "RQ-11B Raven," a spy drone valued at $175,000. Earlier this year, Chua plead guilty for violating the Arms Export Control Act. Chua faced 20-year sentence in federal prison. The Asian Journal said Chua received the Raven in the Philippines and transported it to the US in three different packages. He listed the Raven for sale on Ebay in May 2010. However, military officials had already been tipped off about Chua. A Department of Homeland Security undercover investigator then posed as a buyer, purchased the Raven and contacted Chua. In February this year, officers of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) arrested Chua in Los Angeles for violating the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling. Asian Journal said it is yet unknown how Chua obtained the Raven. The Raven The Raven is an unmanned aircraft used to obtain information for the US military in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the site "Switched," the Raven is a little more than "a glorified model airplane with a camera." The plane has a wingspan of 4.5 feet and has a range of a little over six miles (or around 9.6 kilometers). It weighs less than five pounds and has to be launched by hand by firing up the engine and throwing it into the air. The plane has no capacity to carry any kind of weapons. However, it is a military equipment and thus subject to the Arms Export Control Act. - VVP, GMA News