By: Brooke Driver
For Donald Bernardo of Matthews, North Carolina, the hits keep on coming. In November of 2011, Bernardo was tried and convicted in a Florida court for his violation of Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act. Without first registering with the State Department, Bernardo engaged in brokering activities involving Venezuela. Specifically, in return for a fee and commission, he negotiated and arranged contracts, purchases, sales and transfers of regulated C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. He was sentenced to 12 months of imprisonment and two years of probation at the time of his conviction in November 2011. Upon his release, BIS gave Bernardo a welcome back gift—five years on the denied persons list. For his sake, we hope his commission was worth it.