Anna Fermanova
| Anna Fermanova | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 4, 1986 Riga, USSR |
| Occupation | Teacher, beautician, television commentator |
| Known for | Alleged spying for Russian government |
| Parent(s) | Mikhail and Bella Fermanova |
| Notes | |
|
Arrested on July 15, 2010 | |
Anna Fermanova (Russian: Анна Ферманова, born July 4, 1986), also known as Anya Fermanov, is a Latvian-American television personality and alleged smuggler. While living in Texas, Fermanova allegedly smuggled night-vision equipment to her husband in Russia.[1]
Biography
Fermanova moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, with her family from Riga, Latvia as Jewish religious refugees in 1994.[2][3] The family then moved to Baltimore for a year and eventually settled in Dallas area in 1998.[2] In the U.S. she was naturalized and became a U.S. citizen. In 2004, Anna graduated from Richardson High School.[2] Currently, she studies at the University of Phoenix and teaches English language to Russian students in Moscow.[1][4]
Arrest and charges
On March 1, 2010, Fermanova was travelling from New York to Moscow when she was stopped by the Customs and Border Protection because her luggage contained high tech night vision goggles. These are allowed to be exported from the United States only with preapproval of the Department of State because they are considered weapons.[1][3] U.S. Customs confiscated the equipment, but Fermanova was allowed to continue her trip to Russia. While returning to U.S. on July 15, 2010, Fermanova was apprehended by FBI at the JFK airport and charged with having "knowingly and intentionally" attempted to export "from the United States to Russia defense articles on the United States Munitions list". Fermanova denied all charges and called them "false allegations" although she admitted removing identifying markers from the scopes and blacking out serial numbers with a marker.[5] According to the family lawyer, the goggles were intended for sale by her husband (who is a Russian citizen[6]) to hunters. The three US-made military goggles cost $4,000, $4,000 and $7,000, respectively. The $7,000 goggles were Raptor 4X Night Vision Weapons Sights, engineered to be attached to a rifle.[3] She was let out of jail on a $50,000 bail; the charges could have landed her in prison for up to ten years.[1] She pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle night-vision scopes to Russia and was sentenced to four months in federal prison by a New York judge.[7]
Post-smuggling career
In September 2010, Fermanova began work as a television commentator on the The CW affiliated television news station KDAF in Dallas.[8] Fermanova is a creative director at a hairdressing salon, and in 2012 won an award for best Russian Business of Dallas/Fort Worth.[9]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 Olshan, Jeremy; Fisher, Janon (2007-07-27). "New sexy Russian 'spy' busted for allegedly smuggling night-vision scopes: report". New York Post. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- 1 2 3 "Russian immigrants sympathetic to accused smuggler Anna Fermanova". Dallas News. 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- 1 2 3 Jabali-Nash, Naimah (2007-07-27). "Anna Fermanova Tried to Smuggle High Tech Devices, Say Feds". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ↑ Alastair Jamieson (2007-07-28). "Anna Fermanova: the 'sexy' beautician who moved from Latvia to Texas". Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ↑ Samuel Goldsmith (2007-07-27). "Anna Fermanova jailed in Texas for allegedly smuggling technology to Russia". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
- ↑ Nikolay Zubov (2007-08-02). "Новая Анна" [New Anna]. Kommersant. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
- ↑ "'Sexy' Russian smuggler Anna Fermanova sentenced to four months in prison". Dallas News. 2011-10-24.
- ↑ Theodore Kim (2010-09-10). ""Sexy Russian" from Plano accused of smuggling, Anna Fermanova, lands Dallas television gig". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
- ↑ http://www.dallastelegraph.com/50031