Former Viriginia Resident Convicted Of Sending Explosion-Graded Industrial Parts To Iran

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Mehdi Khorramshahgol, 50, formerly of Centreville, Va., was convicted on Tuesday by a federal judge after a bench trial for violating U.S. economic sanctions on Iran by sending explosion-graded industrial parts to a petrochemical company in Iran.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Rick Shimon, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the verdict by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.

Khorramshahgol faces a potential maximum penalty of 90 years of imprisonment when he is sentenced on November 1, 2013, though the anticipated sentencing guideline range is much lower.

Khorramshahgol was indicted on April 25, 2013, by a federal grand jury on four counts of violating and conspiring to violate the United States economic sanction on Iran, one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, and one count of aiding and abetting a material false statement. According to court records and evidence at trial, the defendant conspired with others in Iran to purchase industrial goods from United States businesses for the Iranian petrochemical industry.  The defendant falsely represented that the end users for his purchases were in Dubai.  After the defendant purchased the goods and shipped them to Dubai, other co-conspirators repackaged the goods for onward shipment to Tehran.  The conspiracy used a series of false invoices, false end users, and front companies to hide its illicit activity.  

This case was investigated by HSI and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Carter Burwell and Andrew Peterson are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.