A 64-year-old Ohio man received a 20-month prison sentence for illegally exporting industrial equipment to Iran, and he did it for more than a decade.
In November 2006, Behrooz Behroozian became the owner and operator of Comtech International, a computer parts supplier in Dublin, Ohio. The problem was that Comtech didn't have a storefront or any domestic sales, and it rarely exported computer parts.
Instead, according to the Department of Justice, the shell company exported gas and oil pipeline parts to Sumar Industrial Equipment in the United Arab Emirates.
Sumar acted as a middleman, passing the parts to Iran and covering up the Columbus man's scheme. His actions violated sanctions imposed upon Iran by the U.S. in May 1995.
He exported manifolds, valves, and connectors used for industrial pipelines in the gas and oil refinement industry and made from $35,000 to $40,000 per year.
Behroozian was born in Iran in 1955. He entered the U.S. in 1976 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1987.
