A foreign national was sentenced to 44 months in prison for conspiring to export U.S.-made heavy machinery made in the city of Alachua to Iran in violation of international sanctions.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice press release sent Monday, Brian Assi, also known as Brahim Assi, 63, of Beirut, Lebanon, received a 44-month sentence in prison for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) with attempted unlawful export of goods from the United States to Iran without a license, attempted smuggling goods from the U.S., submitting false or misleading export information, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“The defendant conspired to export millions of dollars of U.S.-made heavy machinery to Iran, a leading state sponsor of terrorism,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, in the release. “The National Security Division will find and prosecute those who illegally sell American products to our adversaries.”

In October 2024, Assi was convicted of the charges after evidence presented at trial showed Assi was a Middle East-based salesman of a multinational heavy machinery manufacturer with a U.S.-based subsidiary and production plant located in Alachua, Florida.

Assi conspired with individuals connected with Sakht Abzar Pars Co. (SAP-Iran), based in Tehran, Iran, to export U.S.-made heavy machinery indirectly to Iran without obtaining the required licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Assi and his Iranian co-conspirators developed the scheme by locating an Iraq-based distributor that would serve as the forward-facing purchaser of two U.S.-origin blasthole drills from the U.S. subsidiary of Assi’s employer. The drills are a type of heavy machinery that is used to create holes in the ground that are then filled with controlled explosives for mining.

Assi facilitated the sale of the drills, then attempted to export them to Iran and used freight forwarding companies to ship the heavy equipment from the U.S. to Turkey while concealing any Iranian involvement in the transaction from his employer. Assi claimed the drills were destined for use in Iraq, but actually he intended them for his Iranian co-conspirators to transship or reexport those items from Turkey to Iran and circumvent the U.S. export control and sanction laws.

Assi also concealed his activities with his Iranian co-conspirators by entering false information into the Automated Export System (AES), a U.S. government database containing information about exports from the U.S.

The U.S.-based plant hired a U.S. freight forwarder to arrange the drill’s export from the U.S. to Iraq. As part of the shipping process, the freight forwarder submitted information to AES about the shipment that included the ultimate consignee’s name and the delivery destination. Assi misled his employer and claimed that the Iraqi distributor was the ultimate consignee and ultimate delivery destination. Assi actually knew that his co-conspirators in Iran were the intended recipients.

In furtherance of the illicit transaction, Assi and his co-conspirators also caused the transfer of approximately $2.7 million from Turkey to pass through the United States.

“The defendant threatened U.S. economic and national security by conspiring and concealing his efforts to circumvent our export controls to provide heavy machinery to Iran, a designated state sponsor of terrorism for the past 40 years,” said U.S. Attorney John Heekin for the Northern District of Florida, in the release. “My office will continue to aggressively pursue anyone who violates our laws and offers material support to America’s enemies.”