St. Louis man acquitted of Dubai charges

ST. LOUIS -- After being forced to stay in Dubai for several months over gun smuggling charges, a St. Louis native says he has been acquitted.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that 57-year-old Steve Dolan told the newspaper in an email he was acquitted Monday on all counts. He could have faced up to 50 years in jail.

Dolan is a Dubai-based vice president for the shipping firm APL. Authorities told him they found 30,000 knockoff pistols in a shipping container last fall. Dolan and three co-workers were charged in February with gun smuggling and transporting weapons without a license. He denied knowledge of the guns, but was not allowed to leave Dubai until the case was decided.

Dolan hopes to return to the U.S. in four to six weeks.