ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The Federal High Court sentenced a U.S. national to 14 months in prison for attempting to smuggle 100,000 birr (local currency) out of the country, affirming the decision of the lower court.

Micheal Nemeth was caught at the Bole International Airport carrying 100,000 birr, exceeding the legal limit of 200 birr for local currency. The money was found inside a bag he was carrying on his way to the US via Amsterdam on July 17, 2010.

He arrived in Ethiopia on July 8, 2010, where he declared USD $31,000 to the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs authority (ERCA). Out of this amount he exchanged 8,000 dollars (108,378 Br) from Nib International Bank (NIB).

He was planning to buy and sell precious stones, according to the statement he gave to the ERCA investigators, which was repeated to the court.

Nemeth, who was detained at La Gare Detention Centre for two days during the investigation, was released by the court on a bail bond of 5,000 birr. He was charged by the ERCA prosecutors for the possession of unlawful goods on July 23, 2010, at the Federal First Instance Court, 10th Criminal Bench, Lideta Branch, in a summary proceeding.

The defendant, through his lawyer, admitted committing the crime to the court, but argued that he tried to convert the local currency into dollars from NIB prior to leaving the country. However, he was told by the bank that there was not enough foreign currency available, he claimed. His lack of knowledge of the laws of the country should be taken into consideration, the defendant argued.

Nemeth, who was leaving the country with the intention of returning in September, is not a resident, does not have a bank account here, and therefore carried the money in his hand luggage with no intention of harming the country’s economy, the defense argued in mitigation of the sentence.

The court sentenced the defendant to serve 14 months on August 3, taking into consideration the lack of a previous criminal record, inadequate knowledge of the laws of the country, and admission of committing the crime, as mitigating circumstances. The money was confiscated at the court’s order.

The Federal High Court, Fourth BPR Bench, affirmed the decision of the lower court on August 19, after the defendant had appealed the case.

“The fact that the defendant kept quiet until the money concealed in the bag was discovered after an x-ray scan shows his intent,” Zewdinesh Asres, the presiding judge, said to a packed courtroom.

“It is illegal for someone to take more than a certain amount of money out of the country,” Lensa Daniel, prosecutor of the ERCA, told Fortune. “In that respect, the court’s ruling is adequate and will deter others from committing the same crime.”

The American embassy declined to comment, stating that it is a policy not to comment on the private matters of its citizens.

“It is illegal to carry such goods within 15km of the geographical territory of the country,” Eshetu Woldesemayat, director of Prosecutors’ Directorate at ERCA, told Fortune. “However, we have customs check points at the Bole International Airport and it is illegal for a person to attempt passing that point with such goods.”

Prosecutors of the ERCA had also won a case against a Chinese national charged with attempting to smuggle 40,000 dollars out of the country. He was charged with exceeding the legal maximum limit of 3,000 dollars, which can be taken out without authorisation, and 10,000 dollars with authorisation from the ERCA.

The Federal First Instance Court, where the charge was first instituted, sentenced the defendant to three years of imprisonment and ordered the confiscation of the money, which was also affirmed by the Federal High Court on July 1, 2010, after the defendant appealed the case.

In the just ended fiscal year, the ERCA confiscated money in various currencies including close to 2.5 million Br, 1.2 million dollars, 7,760 pounds, 576,340 euros, and 37,500 riyals, that it caught being smuggled out of the country.

– MIKIAS SEBSIBE, ADDIS FORTUNE