Florida Man Sentenced to 35 Months in Prison for Role in Iranian Export Conspiracy

The owner of a Florida company that pleaded guilty earlier this year to illegally exporting military and commercial aircraft parts to Iran was sentenced yesterday to 35 months in federal prison.

As part of his plea, Mr. Train Bujduveanu, a Romanian national and naturalized U.S. citizen, admitted that he used his company, Orion Aviation, to sell aircraft parts to Iran from Mr. Hassan Keshari, owner of Kesh Air International, a California-based company.

According to the indictment and statements and documents contained in court filings, Bujduveanu received orders by email from Keshari requesting specific aircraft parts for buyers in Iran. Bujduveanu then provided quotes, usually by e-mail, to Keshari. After the receipt of payment for the parts from Keshari, Bujduveanu then shipped the parts to a company in Dubai through the use of false or misleading shipping documents. From Dubai, the parts were then shipped on to the purchasers in Iran.

Among the aircraft parts illegally exported to Iran through the conspiracy were parts designed exclusively for the F-14 fighter jet, the Cobra AH-1 attack helicopter, and the CH-53A military helicopter.

Mr. Bujduveanu's co-conspirator, Hassan Keshari, pleaded guilty to one-count of conspiracy to violate export control laws and was sentenced in May 2009 to 17 months in federal prison.