A Fijian citizen, who was a New Zealand resident, has been found guilty of illegally attempting to export military hardware from the US to China.
William Gulshan Ali was tried in Seattle on charges of conspiracy to violate the arms export control act, and attempting to violate the arms export control act.
The conspiracy count is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $US250,000 fine while the attempt count has a maximum 20 year sentence and a $US1 million fine.
Ali's lawyer John Crowley said in court records that his client was a victim of entrapment because a federal agent induced Mr Ali to commit a crime.
Ali was arrested in April after attempting to sell accelerometers and gyroscopes to a US Homeland Security agent in an undercover sting.
He is an aeronautical engineer who has worked for both Fiji Airways and Air New Zealand.
Ali is to be sentenced in March.
