Month: August 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging U.S.-Iranian national Jeffrey Chance Nader, 68, with crimes related to the illicit export of U.S.-manufactured aircraft components, including components used on military aircraft, to Iran in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and other federal laws. Nader was arrested yesterday in California. 

“This action demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “We will aggressively investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable criminal networks that supply sensitive technology to hostile and repressive governments in contravention of U.S. sanctions.” 

“Attacks by Iran and its proxies on U.S. allies in the Middle East and its ongoing supply of Russia with drones and other technology to be used in its illegal war against Ukraine demonstrate why we must do all that we can to stop Iran from acquiring U.S. parts, services, and technology,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “The charges announced today represent the latest step in our ongoing effort to hold accountable those who illegally funnel goods and services to Iran and to deter others from doing the same.” 

“Iran has no business using U.S.-manufactured parts and components to keep their planes and drones in the sky,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. “Stopping these items before they get to our adversaries – like we did here – reflects the real-world impact we’re having through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force.” 

“This indictment highlights the FBI’s commitment to enforcing export laws by holding those accountable who allegedly try to smuggle U.S.-origin military equipment to the benefit of Iran,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “Any circumvention of U.S. export control law is unacceptable, and the FBI works diligently with its partners across the globe to seek out and bring to justice those who violate export laws along with any shell companies that support such activities.”

According to the indictment, beginning at least in 2023, Nader and other associates, conspired to purchase and illegally export – and attempted to export – from the United States to Iran four types of aircraft components, totaling nearly three dozen individual pieces. Some of these components are for use on military aircraft operated by Iran’s armed forces, including the F-4 fighter jet. 

Nader, acting on purchase orders he received from customers in Iran, coordinated the purchase of relevant aircraft components with business associates in Iran, by which Nader and his Iran-based associates would reach out to U.S.-based suppliers of such components. In several instances, Nader falsely identified himself and his company, California-based Pro Aero Capital, to the U.S.-based suppliers as the end user of the items.  

Once Nader obtained the aircraft components, he attempted to export the items on multiple occasions to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The items were then to be transshipped to the ultimate customer in Iran. The items discussed in the indictment, however, were detained by a Special Agent with the Department of Commerce, and none were successfully exported from the United States. 

The FBI Washington Field Office and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security is investigating the case, with assistance provided by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven B. Wasserman for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Sean Heiden of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. Significant assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.  

This prosecution is being coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states. Under the leadership of the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, the Strike Force leverages tools and authorities across the U.S. Government to enhance the criminal and administrative enforcement of export control laws.  

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Eric, for that generous introduction. And for your leadership.

I am grateful to be here in Wyoming, and to have the chance to thank, in person, our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners gathered around this table.

This group of leaders represent the law enforcement officers across the state who make daily sacrifices to protect the people of Wyoming. This also represents the collaborative approach that is at the heart of the Justice Department’s strategy to combat violent crime.

When I became Attorney General three and a half years ago, I knew that the most powerful tool we would have to address violent crime would be our partnerships. That was my experience as a line attorney prosecuting violent crime and narcotics trafficking in the early 1990s, and as a Justice Department official organizing and supervising those efforts later in the 1990s.

So, we built an anti-violent crime strategy rooted in strengthening our collaboration across federal law enforcement; with state, local, and Tribal law enforcement; and with the communities we all serve.

And we fortified those partnerships by bringing to bear the latest technologies for identifying and prosecuting the criminals who represent the greatest danger to our communities.

Now we have seen results. Last year, we saw one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years nationwide. That included the largest drop in homicides in 50 years.

But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven. And of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.

The Justice Department is working here in Wyoming and across the country to arrest violent felons, disrupt violent drug trafficking, and prosecute the individuals responsible for the greatest violence.

Earlier this month, this U.S. Attorney’s Office secured a more-than-16-year sentence for a man who trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl in Casper. When he was arrested, investigators found and seized 11 firearms, including a Glock model 17 with a conversion device. The device effectively made the weapon a fully automatic machine gun.

Also this month — working as part of the Safe Trails Task Force investigating drug trafficking on the Wind River Indian Reservation — this office charged a man we allege intended to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. During a search of his property, FBI agents seized more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, over 32 grams of fentanyl, and 14 firearms.

Last month, this office worked with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prosecute a man for drug and firearm offenses. The defendant was pulled over on the highway and a search uncovered 491 grams of cocaine, three rifles, two handguns, and a suppressor that could be threaded onto one of the handguns. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

In June, this office — together with the FBI, ATF, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, and Mills Police Department — secured the conviction of a felon on federal firearms offenses who engaged in a three-hour standoff with law enforcement. He was found in illegal possession of a semiautomatic rifle, two semiautomatic pistols, and ammunition.

And earlier this year — working with the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully prosecuted a man who shot and killed a victim in their home on the Wind River Indian Reservation. That defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in federal prison.

The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the work this office does every day to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our communities safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.

I am very proud of the work of U.S. Attorney Heimann and of all the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming. And I am equally proud of the partnerships they have nurtured with the federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies around this table, which work every day to keep the people of Wyoming safe.

With that, we will begin our meeting.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Eric, for that generous introduction. And for your leadership.

I am grateful to be here in Wyoming, and to have the chance to thank, in person, our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners gathered around this table.

This group of leaders represent the law enforcement officers across the state who make daily sacrifices to protect the people of Wyoming. This also represents the collaborative approach that is at the heart of the Justice Department’s strategy to combat violent crime.

When I became Attorney General three and a half years ago, I knew that the most powerful tool we would have to address violent crime would be our partnerships. That was my experience as a line attorney prosecuting violent crime and narcotics trafficking in the early 1990s, and as a Justice Department official organizing and supervising those efforts later in the 1990s.

So, we built an anti-violent crime strategy rooted in strengthening our collaboration across federal law enforcement; with state, local, and Tribal law enforcement; and with the communities we all serve.

And we fortified those partnerships by bringing to bear the latest technologies for identifying and prosecuting the criminals who represent the greatest danger to our communities.

Now we have seen results. Last year, we saw one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years nationwide. That included the largest drop in homicides in 50 years.

But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven. And of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.

The Justice Department is working here in Wyoming and across the country to arrest violent felons, disrupt violent drug trafficking, and prosecute the individuals responsible for the greatest violence.

Earlier this month, this U.S. Attorney’s Office secured a more-than-16-year sentence for a man who trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl in Casper. When he was arrested, investigators found and seized 11 firearms, including a Glock model 17 with a conversion device. The device effectively made the weapon a fully automatic machine gun.

Also this month — working as part of the Safe Trails Task Force investigating drug trafficking on the Wind River Indian Reservation — this office charged a man we allege intended to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. During a search of his property, FBI agents seized more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, over 32 grams of fentanyl, and 14 firearms.

Last month, this office worked with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prosecute a man for drug and firearm offenses. The defendant was pulled over on the highway and a search uncovered 491 grams of cocaine, three rifles, two handguns, and a suppressor that could be threaded onto one of the handguns. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

In June, this office — together with the FBI, ATF, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, and Mills Police Department — secured the conviction of a felon on federal firearms offenses who engaged in a three-hour standoff with law enforcement. He was found in illegal possession of a semiautomatic rifle, two semiautomatic pistols, and ammunition.

And earlier this year — working with the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully prosecuted a man who shot and killed a victim in their home on the Wind River Indian Reservation. That defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in federal prison.

The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the work this office does every day to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our communities safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.

I am very proud of the work of U.S. Attorney Heimann and of all the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming. And I am equally proud of the partnerships they have nurtured with the federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies around this table, which work every day to keep the people of Wyoming safe.

With that, we will begin our meeting.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A civilian electrical engineer for the Department of Defense appeared in federal court today on a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material.

According to court documents, Gokhan Gun, 50, of Falls Church, Virginia, was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a dual citizen of Turkey and the United States. Through his employment, Gun possesses a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and has received training on the proper handling and storage of classified information.

On multiple occasions beginning at least in May 2024, Gun allegedly printed documents, some of which were marked Top Secret, and without permission removed them from his authorized work location. Between May 10 and Aug. 7, Gun allegedly printed over a dozen documents marked classified at the time of printing. In August, investigators observed Gun exiting his workplace with a bag full of hard copy documents before entering two different residences in Fairfax and Falls Church, both owned by Gun.

On Aug. 9, Gun was scheduled to depart the United States on a morning flight to Mexico.  However, FBI agents executed search warrants for Gun’s Fairfax and Falls Church residences, along with his vehicle, and media storage devices. Among the items recovered from the searches were a Top Secret document and a printout listing Gun’s security clearances—both of which were recovered from Gun’s backpack. Inside the residence, agents also observed stacks of papers among which were multiple documents with visible classification markings, including pages bearing Top Secret and SCI classification markings.

Packed for travel in a small personal belt bag, Gun allegedly had his U.S. passport and an expired passport from Turkey.

If convicted of the current charge, Gun faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony J. Rodregous and John T. Gibbs for the Eastern District of Viriginia and Trial Attorneys Adam L. Small and Chantelle Dial of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.