The U.S. Justice Department said Turkish businessman Resit Tavan was sentenced to 27 months in jail for conspiring to illegally export specialized marine equipment from the U.S. to Iran.
Tavan, who operated Istanbul-based Ramor Dis Ticaret Ltd., pleaded guilty in federal court in Milwaukee on April 2 to one count of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He was sentenced by the court Aug. 29.
Between 2013 and 2015, Tavan attempted to acquire and export high-powered outboard engines, marine power generators and power boat propulsion systems on behalf of the Iran-based Qeshm Madkandalou Shipbuilding Cooperative. The Iranian company planned to use the U.S.-manufactured equipment to build a prototype, high-speed missile attack boat for the Iranian military.
“At no time did anyone involved in these transactions obtain permission from the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control or the U.S. Department of Commerce to export any U.S.-origin marine equipment from the United States to Iran,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
A co-defendant charged in the same Indictment, Turkish citizen Fulya Kalafatoglu Oguzturk, a co-defendant in the same indictment, remains at large, the Justice Department said.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Commerce Department, along with support from the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service.