An interesting criminal case relevant to national security wrapped this week in United States vs Richard Lant, which represented a three-year long court proceeding. In 2011 and the again in 2015, Lant, of Las Vegas, and others, according to findings of fact in his plea agreement, conspired to sell 500 Russian made tank helmets to a contact in Iran. These helmets have a built in connection which holds a communication device used with tanks. Lant operated R&L Ltd, a company who sold Russian items. A deal with Iran was brokered through another defendant, Dariush Niknia, however, after several shipments, the transaction halted as the government of Iran was not satisfied with the delivery speed and type of helmet provided by Lant. The broker, Niknia, went to another supplier who immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The above sale was a violation of International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, except under very limited exceptions, prohibits the export, sale, and supply of goods to Iran by United States persons without a license from United States Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). Both Lant and his co-conspirator admitted knowing the export was unlawful, but proceeded with the sale and delivery anyway. Lant as well as Niknea pled guilty to Conspiracy to Export to an Embargoed Country in violation of Title 50 and Title 31 of the United State Code.
The government recommended at his sentencing hearing this week that Lant serve 33 months of confinement, a slight downward departure of the sentencing guidelines due to his cooperation and guilty plea. However, Lant is now 77 years old and is the case with many criminal actions that take so long to bring to a close, the defendant’s age and health circumstances at sentencing were used by his counsel to request home confinement in lieu of a correctional facility. The judge, in this case, assessed a $7500.00 fine against Lant as the government proposed, however sided with the defendant by sentencing him to 24 months of home detention. (Incidentally, Niknia, age 60, and the higher-level actor in the case, received a confinement sentence of 34 months). I am not sure how many person-hours and resources were put into this case but you have to wonder if the general deterrent effect intended was actually achieved and because the case took so long, who really paid attention?
Economic Posers violations don’t seem to be slowing down despite lack of media publicity. One does not have to hunt very far to find multiple cases prosecuted under the same law still pending in the federal system. In the United States District Court for District of Columbia, Grand Jury indictment earlier this month, Mehdi Khoshghadam was charged with similar crimes, alleging that he set up sham corporations in countries that did not have trade embargos, only to have those companies export the products to Iran in the 2016 timeframe. The indictment reflects that this was a multiple level conspiracy that several countries were entangled in, offered multiple angles to work around the trade law, and usurps national security mechanisms in place. It is worth paying attention to, but don’t wait for the media to do it for you.
