Mehrdad Ansari is to be sentenced on September 1
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found Iranian citizen Mehrdad Ansari guilty of complicity in receiving and exporting components from the United States, including those with military applications. The US Department of Justice announced this on its website on Friday.
Ansari, 39, who owns Gulf Gate Sea Cargo LLC, had helped transport components ordered by his associates from 63 US companies that could be used for nuclear weapons, missile guidance systems and jamming devices, it said. While trying to purchase more than 105,000 parts worth about $2.6 million from 2007 to 2011, the criminals did not notify U.S. suppliers of their plans to ship the ordered goods to Iran and did not obtain the necessary export licenses for the components.
Ansari is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 1 and faces up to 20 years for violating trade regulations with Iran, up to five years for wire fraud, the same term for attempted fraud against the U.S. Treasury, and five years for each episode of perjury.