Ohio man sentenced to 20 months for selling oil field parts to Iran

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An Ohio man was sentenced to 20 months in prison Thursday for secretly selling oil and pipeline parts to Iran for more than a decade in an attempt to evade U.S. embargo and trade sanctions against Tehran.

Federal prosecutors said Behrooz Behroozian, 64, began using his Dublin, Ohio, computer parts business, Comtech International, in 2006 to supply manifolds, valves and connectors used for industrial gas and oil refinement to Iran.

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Prosecutors said Comtech International had no storefront, made no domestics sales and rarely exported computer parts.

“For years, this defendant deliberately sought to defeat and evade the Iranian sanctions for personal gain while supplying critical equipment to the Iranian industrial complex," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement.

The Columbus resident allegedly used a separate company in the United Arab Emirates, Sumar Industrial Equipment, to facilitate the export of the parts to Iran, despite U.S. sanctions dating back to 1995.

He allegedly profited from the scheme to the tune of $35,000 to $40,000 annually.

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"Behroozian profited financially by strengthening the economy of one of the world’s most infamous state sponsors of terrorism,” said Benjamin C. Glassman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

Glassman said the parts sold to Iran benefited its oil and gas industry and undermined America's national security. Behroozian entered the U.S. in 1976 and became a naturalized citizen in 1987.