Siobhan Browne, one of four Irish people in Florida charged with sending guns to Ireland and with conspiracy to murder individuals in Northern Ireland, yesterday pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
The prosecution dropped the serious charges against Browne, who is originally from Co Cork, saying she was merely the girlfriend of one of the accused who had used her to buy guns in Florida which were later posted to addresses in Ireland.
Browne (34) had worked as a stockbroker in Fort Lauderdale where she was arrested last July. She now faces a maximum sentence of five years on the charges of making false statements to a licensed gun dealer, but under a plea-bargain arrangement will probably receive an 18 to 24-month sentence. She has been in custody since last July.
The other three accused, Mr Conor Claxton, Mr Anthony Smyth and Mr Martin Mullan, still face charges of "providing material support to terrorists", "conspiracy to murder and maim individuals in Northern Ireland" and illegally sending weapons to the Republic of Ireland. Their trial has been fixed for April 24th in Fort Lauderdale.
The IRA issued a statement last year saying the army council had not authorised any operation to smuggle arms.
About 70 arms are believed to have been posted to addresses in Ireland, but most were intercepted at an airport in Britain. Some weapons got through to Ireland, but a woman who was arrested in Co Galway for possessing six handguns and ammunition was later released when the DPP dropped the charges.
At a preliminary hearing in Fort Lauderdale last July, the prosecution claimed that Mr Claxton, who comes from Belfast, told the FBI he was acting for the IRA and that guns were needed for when the Good Friday agreement collapsed. But Mr Claxton's lawyer disputed this.
Mr Smyth, who was Browne's girlfriend, is also from Belfast, but has been living in Florida for over 10 years.
Mr Mullan, who is from Co Antrim, was arrested in Philadelphia where he had been staying for several months and later extradited to Florida to face gunrunning and terrorist charges.