A US federal judge has handed a 20-month prison term to an Irish woman who pleaded guilty earlier this year to helping ship arms and ammunition across the Atlantic.
Siobhan Browne, from Dublin, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to purchase weapons illegally in Florida to send them to Northern Ireland. She was also sentenced to three years' parole and fined $25,000 (about £20,000), a Miami US Attorney's office spokeswoman said.
Ms Browne was arrested with three other suspects in July last year after federal investigators discovered weapons in packages mailed from Fort Lauderdale to a British airport.
The others, Anthony Smyth, Martin Mullan and Conor Claxton, were found guilty in April of buying and illegally shipping weapons from Florida through the US mail. They were cleared of the most serious charges: conspiracy to commit murder and to maim in Northern Ireland, and providing material support to terrorists.
During questioning Claxton, who is from Belfast, allegedly told investigators he was working for the Provisional IRA and that the weapons were to be used against RUC officers and British soldiers. His attorney denied that Claxton made those remarks.
Smyth, Mullan and Claxton will be sentenced on August 18th. All three men had faced life imprisonment for the serious charges, but they will now receive terms of five to 10 years.
Federal agents uncovered scores of weapons mailed from Fort Lauderdale in packages disguised as toys and electronic equipment.