U.S. Rep. John Murtha, the Johnstown Democrat who is known for delivering federal money to defense contractors in his district, is now going to bat for a constituent's company that was convicted last year of illegally exporting components of military equipment.

Mr. Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, wrote State Department officials in late June urging them to meet with the president of Electro-Glass Products, a 50-employee Mount Pleasant company that was convicted in April 2007 of illegally exporting components of night-vision goggles to a company in India. Mr. Murtha argues that State Department sanctions now threaten to put the firm out of business.

Mr. Murtha wrote that the company would not have made the shipments "if they truly believed the shipments were in violation of the law."

But Mary Beth Buchanan, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, called the company's violation "a serious offense." The company had no license to export the items, and the government requires one to ensure "that products for military use aren't being sold to countries that might have an improper and criminal use for the product," Ms. Buchanan said.

She said her office pushed for conviction because Electro-Glass had been counseled before, in 1994, that it needed certification to make future shipments.