CONFESSED arms smuggler Thomas Fok, the son of Hong Kong billionaire Henry Fok, walked free from a New York court late last night after agreeing to co-operate with US authorities.
Fok, 43, who had pleaded guilty to plotting with undercover agents to bring 15,000 AK-47 rifles into the US from Holland, was released after 18 months on bail facing charges.
A judge in the Federal Court in Brooklyn sentenced Fok to six months in jail and imposed a fine of US$100,000 (HK$772,000), but said Fok could walk free as he had already served time following his arrest in November 1991.
After the hearing, Fok said the case had ''obviously'' caused embarrassment to his prominent family, adding that he would be returning to Hong Kong ''to try to get my life back together''.
He said he did not want to comment further on the case or the details of how he co-operated with officers under his plea bargain.
He was not surprised by the result.
Fok's lawyer Michael Hess said his client was ''very apologetic and contrite for what happened and that is why he pleaded guilty''.