A Palos Hills man was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison after pleading guilty this summer to illegally exporting firearm parts to Israel, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago. U.S. District Judge John F. Kness on Nov. 21 sentenced Amin Betuni to 46 months in federal prison. Betuni, 37, pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to knowingly and fraudulently exporting firearm parts. He faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. He admitted in the plea agreement to shipping the firearm parts to individuals in Israel on at least three occasions starting in early November 2022. The parts included rifle barrels, gas blocks for rifles and bolt carrier groups. Betuni put false information on the shipping labels and concealed the firearm parts in packages containing auto parts or George Foreman grills, according to his plea. During a search of Betuni’s home in December 2022, officers found more than 1,200 rounds of assorted ammunition, a shotgun, rifle and handgun, additional bolt carrier groups, and three firearm conversion devices, also known as “Glock switches,” which equip firearms to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger, according to the plea. Prosecutors had, in an Oct. 23 court filing, asked that Betuni be sentenced to 60 months in prison, saying he “created a sophisticated smuggling scheme designed to evade detection by law enforcement.” The government said shipments of firearms components were sometimes wrapped in metal slag or foil to evade detection, but were spotted through X-ray examination by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. Prosecutors said that Betuni sometimes labeled firearms shipments as containing automotive parts. Prosecutors said a search of Betuni’s electronics recovered photos of Betuni and his children holding various rifles with drum magazines attached. The government, in its filing seeking a longer prison sentence, said the search of Betuni’s home also recovered $20,000 in cash as well as about 28 pounds of marijuana sealed in 1-pound packages. In an Oct. 23 filing in Betuni’s case, his attorney asked that he be sentenced to either probation or no more than 15 months in prison. His lawyer said that Betuni’s life “has been full of misfortune, abuse, true poverty and neglect,” and, as the father on sons 6 and 7 years old, he “could not be more ashamed of his transgression.”