Escambia Man Gets 40 Months For Trying To Sell Equipment To Iran

January 25, 2020

An Escambia County man has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for conspiring with foreign nationals to ship technology to Iran.

James P. Meharg, 59, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to sell and export power generating equipment to a recipient in Iran as well as making false statements on export documents and international money laundering. Meharg, CEO and president of Turbine Resources International, LLC, located in Pensacola, conspired with citizens of the United Kingdom and Iran to export a large turbine and parts from the United States to an Iranian recipient, in violation of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations as well as federal criminal law.

According to the indictment, Meharg, a citizen of the United States, conspired from October 1, 2017, to June 12, 2019, to violate the embargo by attempting to export a Solar Mars 90 S turbine core engine and parts from the United States, for delivery to an end user in Iran. On April 25, 2018, the indictment alleges, Meharg sent an invoice for $500,000 to a conspirator in the United Kingdom and received two partial payments of $124,950 each, on May 7 and May 24, 2018, at least one of which was routed through a company in Dubai.

Meharg, a local U.S. citizen, admitted that he conspired from October 1, 2017, to June 12, 2019, to violate the Iranian embargo by attempting to export a Solar Mars 90 S turbine core engine and parts from the United States, for delivery to an end user in Iran. Evidence revealed that on April 25, 2018, Meharg sent an invoice for $500,000 to a conspirator in the United Kingdom and received two partial payments of $124,950 each, on May 7 and May 24, 2018, which were routed through a company in the United Arab Emirates. In total, Meharg received approximately $250,000 in funds laundered through foreign accounts as payment for having the turbine sent to Iran. Law enforcement authorities, however, were able to seize the turbine before its transatlantic journey to the end user in Iran. That end user, a conspirator in Iran, is linked to an Iranian oil, gas, and petrochemical company. Meharg also admitted to falsifying documents used to export items from the Pensacola area.

“Exporting technology to Iran is prohibited for a very good reason, and this defendant chose to put his own self-interest above the national security needs of the United States of America,” Keefe said. “This case should send a clear signal that the United States cannot and will not look the other way when one of its citizens endangers the safety of our nation and its people.”

Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg, who is a National Security Cyber Specialist, is prosecuting the case following a joint investigation by the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Comments

6 Responses to “Escambia Man Gets 40 Months For Trying To Sell Equipment To Iran”

  1. Mike on January 27th, 2020 8:05 pm

    I love the comment of Shane. “I know nothing about it, I don’t know what would they do with the parts, but the guy should be sentenced to life. ”
    There is an embargo on spending money in Cuba. Shouldn’t we sentence to life, or much better execute anybody who dares to travel there, and God forbid, spend money buying stuff or going to restaurants?
    Folks, read “1984″ if you can read.

  2. Richard on January 27th, 2020 10:31 am

    There is an embargo on trade with Iran because Washington has deemed Iran’s current government to be an illegitimate replacement for the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Shah Reza Pahlavi, whose government was violently overthrown in 1979. Washington considers Iran to be its rightful neocolonial client state, or possession. Washington is obsessed with Iran because of its oil riches – and because it is one of several middle-eastern countries (e.g. Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, et al) that are targeted to become part of the Zionist “Greater Israel Project.”

  3. Melodies4us on January 25th, 2020 10:17 pm

    I didn’t know it was illegal to sell wind turbines to Iran.

  4. Shane on January 25th, 2020 2:34 pm

    They should have given him life that should have been treason we don’t know what they were doing with the parts he was sending over there I think that’s a tru traitor of our country send him over there to one of there prisons

  5. Franklin on January 25th, 2020 8:45 am

    Not nearly enough time for a traitorous act.

  6. rance on January 25th, 2020 2:49 am

    Chose to put his own self-interest above the national security needs of the United States of America,” Prison sentence should have been longer for the traitor.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News