Monongalia County man sentenced for lying to federal agent

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Darus Zehrbach, of Westover, West Virginia, was sentenced today to six months incarceration for making a false statement, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Zehrbach, age 72, pled guilty to one count of “False Statement to Federal Agent” in January 2019. In February 2015, Zehrbach received a letter from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, denying his application for a license to export electric scooters to Iran.  In June 2016, Zehrbach exported eight electric scooters to the United Arab Emirates, knowing that the scooters would be shipped to Iran.  The, in July 2016, the eight electric scooters were shipped from the United Arab Emirates to Iran. Zehrbach admitted to sending a letter to an agent of the United States Department of Commerce stating that a shipment he sent to Iran had originated in China when in fact that shipment originated in the United States.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod J. Douglas and the Department of Justice National Security Division prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement investigated.

U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.