CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A man pleaded guilty in federal court in New Hampshire to smuggling more than $100,000 worth of motors, pumps, valves and other items from the United States into Iran.
The U.S. attorney's office said Aiden Davidson, also known as Hamed Aliabadi, 32, is a citizen of Iran and a naturalized citizen of the U.S. He lived in Tennessee. He was manager of a New Hampshire limited liability company called Golden Gate International.
Prosecutors said between December 2016 and August 2017, Davidson and Golden Gate smuggled goods from Savannah, Georgia, to a company that operated an online resale business in Tehran, Iran. But documents related to the shipments falsely identified the recipient as a Turkish freight company. Davidson was accused of willfully evading national security controls related to transactions with Iran.
Davidson pleaded guilty Monday. He's scheduled to be sentenced June 17.
"Export controls are important legal restrictions that are intended to prevent certain items from being used to jeopardize our national security," said U.S. Attorney Scott Murray. "By smuggling these goods from the Untied States to Iran, the defendant violated federal law."