News Releases and Statements

Aliereza Jalali, 39, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen in the District of Minnesota, on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He pleaded guilty to the charge on Nov. 29, 2017.

Frederik Barbieri, 36, of Ft. Pierce, Florida, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, one count of delivering firearms to a contract carrier without notification, that shipment contained firearms, one count of smuggling firearms and fire accessories from the United States to Brazil and one count of exporting firearms and firearms accessories without a license

Paul Stuart Brunt, 51, of Bellevue, Washington, and Rawnd Khaleel Aldalawi, 29, of Seattle, were arrested on a criminal complaint January 24, 2018. 

According to the plea agreement, between about June 2015 and March 2016, Peter Zuccarelli, 62, of Plano, Texas, and his co-conspirators agreed to illegally export RHICs to China and Russia in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

HSI and Department of Commerce OEE Special Agents partner to address vulnerabilities in the export sector and work to conduct Project Shield America (PSA) outreach presentations to certain “reshipper” businesses that are unique to Delaware. 

Giovanni Zannoni, 35, of Gavorrano, Italy, has pleaded guilty to illegally exporting and attempting to export night vision equipment and assault rifle components.  As part of his plea, Zannoni agreed to forfeit $436,673.73, in addition to the dozens of gun parts and night vision and thermal imaging devices recovered by the government in connection with this prosecution.

“Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies” is a CNN Original Series hosted by former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers. Each week, the series highlights true stories of America’s covert operations with first-person accounts told by the agents who lived it.

Fuyi Sun, aka Frank, 53, of Shanghai, China, was arrested, and subsequently convicted, in connection with a scheme to illegally export to China, without a license, high-grade carbon fiber that is used primarily in aerospace and military applications.

Peter Zuccarelli, from Plano, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle and illegally export from the U.S., radiation-hardened integrated circuits (RHICs) for use in the space programs of China and Russia, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Rasheed Al Jijakli, 56, of Walnut, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court on a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury July 14. The indictment was unsealed Tuesday following Jijakli’s arrest.

William Ali, 38, has been in federal custody since his arrest April 11, 2016, by HSI special agents. At Thursday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly said, “You knew that if you did it you could go to jail and you proceeded to do it…you laughed and you were undeterred in your decision to come here.”

Joao Pereira da Fonseca, 55, a citizen of Portugal, pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from a scheme in which he conspired to help an Iranian company unlawfully obtain sophisticated equipment from two companies in the United States.

Guan Ying Li, 50, also known as “Henry Li,” from Hong Kong, China, pleaded guilty in 2014 to attempting to provide material support and resources to “Shining Path,” a terrorist organization designated by the U.S. Department of State. The original goal of Shining Path was to overthrow the government of Peru and replace it with a Maoist socialist system.

Si Chen, also known as Cathy Chen, 32, is expected to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court on charges contained in an indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury April 27 and unsealed following her arrest.

Lim Yong Nam, aka Steven Lim, 43, a citizen of Singapore, was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy that caused thousands of radio frequency modules to be illegally exported from the U.S. to Iran, at least 14 of which were later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq.

Marlou Mendoz, 61, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to three counts of failing to provide the required written notice to freight forwarders that she was shipping ammunition to a foreign country.

After deliberating about three hours, a jury convicted William Ali, 38, of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and attempting to violate the Act. He remains in federal custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled March 16.

Mansour Moghtaderi Zadeh, 56, an Iranian national, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and one year of supervised release. Zadeh was also ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $69,159.

Bassem Afif Herz, 31, of Cedar Rapids, was sentenced to 97 months in prison following his previous guilty plea to various charges related to a scheme to illegally export hundreds of firearms to Lebanon.

Zachary Sizemore, 24, an active-duty service member of the U.S. Air Force, was arrested on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he is stationed.  Sizemore is charged with theft and sale without authority of night-vision devices and components stolen from the Air Force.

Zavik Zargarian, 52, of Glendale, and Vache Nayirian, 57, of Lakeview Terrace, were taken into custody Wednesday morning by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Mansour Moghtaderi Zadeh, 56, pleaded to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods, technology, and services to Iran without the required license, and to defraud the United States. 

Ahmad Feras Diri, age 43, of London, was sentenced to a 37-month term of imprisonment, a $100 special assessment, and ordered to forfeit $45,698 to the government. Diri was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London on March 14, 2013, and extradited to the United States on charges filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Alexey Barysheff, 36, along with his cohorts Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Karpenko, 33, and Alexey Krutilin, 27, is charged with acquiring sophisticated military and satellite technology on behalf of Russian end-users.