Manual Seller Convicted in Export Case

LOS ANGELES —  A Costa Mesa supplier of military manuals was convicted Thursday of violating federal laws controlling arms exports by attempting to ship technical manuals to South Africa.

A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against George M. Posey III after deliberating one day. Posey, owner of Newport Aeronautical Sales, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, one count of violating the act and one count of violating the Anti-Apartheid Act, which prohibits trade in munitions to South Africa.

Posey was indicted on the charges in March, a month after a consultant working for him was arrested by customs agents at Los Angeles International Airport with three boxes of technical manuals and plane tickets to Argentina and Johannesburg. The man, Edward J. Bush, later pleaded guilty to one count of violating the arms control act and testified as a government witness at Posey’s six-day trial.

“I can’t believe that something so insignificant as generator manuals can be perceived by the government like this,” a tearful Posey said. Much of the material in question related to the repair and maintenance of C-130 aircraft, according to trial testimony.

Posey and his wife, Roberta, wept and hugged each other in the courthouse hall after the verdict was announced.

Posey remains free on bail and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and fines of up to $1.3 million. U.S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez set a sentencing hearing for Sept. 21.

Posey, who testified at the trial, maintained that he obtained the technical manuals from military bases through public channels. He received much of the material by filing requests under the Freedom of Information Act. He would obtain the manuals and provide them to customers, mostly military contractors, for a fee.