U.S. judge gives prison term for India export case

Posted 06 19 2008 12:06AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The owner of an electronics company has been sentenced to 35 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to illegally export sensitive computer parts to India, a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said on Tuesday.

In March, Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 47, a resident of Simpsonville, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to provide the parts to government entities in India that develop missiles, space launch vehicles and fighter jets.

According to court documents, Sudarshan did business as Cirrus Electronics and said he was the chief executive officer, managing director, president and group head. It has offices in Simpsonville, Singapore, and Bangalore, India.

Sudarshan previously had been an electrical engineer in the research and development section of India's state-run defense industry, before he emigrated to Singapore and started Cirrus in 1997, according to the documents.

The spokesman said the sentence was handed down on Monday by a federal judge. He said Sudarshan already has been in custody and has served 15 months of the sentence. After he serves the remaining time, Sudarshan will be deported back to Singapore, the spokesman said.