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Highland Park man gets 25 years in N.Y. Taliban case

NEW YORK — A Highland Park man convicted earlier this year of conspiring to provide material support to the Taliban has been sentenced in New York to 25 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the sentence for 55-year-old Oded Orbach on Wednesday.

Orbach was arrested along with another U.S. citizen in Romania last February. Prosecutors said the two agreed during meetings in Ghana, Ukraine and Romania to arrange the sale of weapons to a confidential source for the Taliban’s use against U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.

Prosecutors say a two-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration caught the men agreeing to provide heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles and other weapons worth more than $25 million.

A lawyer for Orbach didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

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