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Plainwell man sentenced for international arms sales

Posted at 2:10 PM, Jan 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-15 14:11:17-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Plainwell man who admitted to illegally selling weapons in Europe as been sentenced.

Benjamin James Cance was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison.  He will also have to serve two years of supervised release after his prison term and pay $3,200 in fines and costs.

Cance pleaded guilty to federal charges of international arms trafficking and money laundering in October.  He faced a possible 30 year sentence.

Cance conducted sales illegally on the internet and shipped weapons to Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom, officials said.  He was paid with electronic currencies like Bitcoin in an attempt to hide the exchanges.