Major Shaitan Singh
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A man accused of trying to share advanced U.S. fighter jet information with Iran pleaded guilty to violating a federal arms export control law, the Justice Department said.
Mozaffar Khazaee, 60, who was arrested a year ago as he was about to board a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Tehran, entered his plea Wednesday before a federal judge in Hartford, Connecticut. He faces a prison term of as long as 20 years and a $1 million fine, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The Iranian-born former Manchester, Connecticut, resident worked for three U.S. defense contractors from 2001 to 2013, according to prosecutors.
Starting in 2009, “Khazaee stole sensitive, proprietary and controlled technology to send it to Iran,” prosecutors said. Among that material was jet engine information for the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint-Strike and F22 Raptor fighters.
The government began investigating Khazaee, also known as Arash Khazaie, in November when U.S. custom agents inspected a shipment he had sent to Long Beach, California, from Connecticut, bound for Hamadan, Iran, prosecutors said previously.
While documents accompanying the shipment indicated it contained household goods, a search revealed boxes of documents, including technical manuals, specification sheets and other materials related to the F35 program and jet engines, according to court filings.
He faced three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property, each subject to a maximum prison term of 10 years.
Trent LaLima, a lawyer for Khazaee, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment on the guilty plea.
The case is U.S. v. Khazaee, 14-cr-00009, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut (New Haven).
Mozaffar Khazaee, 60, who was arrested a year ago as he was about to board a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Tehran, entered his plea Wednesday before a federal judge in Hartford, Connecticut. He faces a prison term of as long as 20 years and a $1 million fine, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The Iranian-born former Manchester, Connecticut, resident worked for three U.S. defense contractors from 2001 to 2013, according to prosecutors.
Starting in 2009, “Khazaee stole sensitive, proprietary and controlled technology to send it to Iran,” prosecutors said. Among that material was jet engine information for the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint-Strike and F22 Raptor fighters.
The government began investigating Khazaee, also known as Arash Khazaie, in November when U.S. custom agents inspected a shipment he had sent to Long Beach, California, from Connecticut, bound for Hamadan, Iran, prosecutors said previously.
While documents accompanying the shipment indicated it contained household goods, a search revealed boxes of documents, including technical manuals, specification sheets and other materials related to the F35 program and jet engines, according to court filings.
He faced three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property, each subject to a maximum prison term of 10 years.
Trent LaLima, a lawyer for Khazaee, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment on the guilty plea.
The case is U.S. v. Khazaee, 14-cr-00009, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut (New Haven).
