A Sri Lankan man convicted of aiding the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) has been sentenced to 57 months in prison and will be deported to Sri Lanka after he serves his sentence.

Thirunavukarasu Varatharasa, a 37-year old Sri Lankan citizen, was sentenced on January 3, 2008, by a U.S. district court in Baltimore.  Varatharasa, an alleged member of the Tamil Tigers, pleaded guilty in May 2007, to conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempted exportation of arms and munitions.  Varatharasa attempted to purchase surface to air missiles, night vision devices, machine guns and firearms for the Tamil Tigers, according to court documents.

Varatharasa was arrested in Guam in September 2006, after inspecting the weaponry he intended to buy on behalf of the Tamil Tigers during a clandestine meeting with undercover agents from Maryland.  According to his plea agreement, Varatharasa conspired with alleged Tamil Tigers members Haji Subandi, Haniffa Osman and Erick Wotulo to export the weapons to the Tamil Tigers, to be used to fight against the Sri Lankan government.  The conspirators contacted an undercover FBI business located in Maryland about the sale of weapons and later agreed to send money to an undercover FBI bank account in Maryland as payment for the arms. 

Subandi, 70, of Indonesia, was sentenced on December 14, 2007, to 37 months in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (Tamil Tigers), money laundering and attempted exportation of arms and munitions.

Osman, 56, of Singapore, and Wotulo, 59, a retired Indonesian Marine Corps General, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support and money laundering.  They face a maximum of 35 years in prison. 

The Tamil Tigers, a pioneer in the use of suicide bombings, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. in 1997.