A Glendale man was sentenced today to 41 months behind bars for attempting to smuggle fighter aircraft parts to Iran.
Zavik Zargarian, 54, pleaded guilty in 2017 in a Los Angeles federal court to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The case stems from a lengthy undercover probe that took shape when Iranian national Hanri Terminassian contacted Zargarian from overseas seeking help obtaining military aircraft parts, including those used in F-18 fighter jets.
Prosecutors said Zargarian sought to purchase the parts from an undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations agent posing as a parts supplier, and Terminassian traveled to the United States to meet with both of them about the deal.
Prosecutors said the two men wanted to purchase between 10 and 30 units of each item, with the total cost potentially exceeding $3.6 million.
Terminassian was charged in the case but remains in Iran.
The U.S. embargo on Iran prohibits the export of goods, technology and services to Iran, with very limited exceptions.
