Australian man sentenced to prison for exporting electronics to Iran

WASHINGTON, March 21 (KUNA) -- An Australian man was sentenced to 24 months in prison on four counts of violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which "criminalizes knowing transactions with Iranian entities without a license from the US Department of Treasury." The Department of Justice said a statement on Thursday that David Russell Levick, 57, pleaded guilty to the charges last month, where in addition to the prison term, he must pay "a forfeiture amount of USD 199,227, which represents the total value of the goods involved in the illegal transactions." It added, "Following completion of his prison term, Levick will be subject to deportation proceedings." "According to the plea documents, Levick was the general manager of ICM Components, Inc., located in Thornleigh Australia. He solicited purchase orders and business for the goods from a representative of a trading company in Iran," the statement noted. This person in Iran also "operated and controlled companies in Malaysia that acted as intermediaries for the Iranian trading company." The statement indicated that "the activities took place between in 2007 and 2008," and that as the request of the US, Australia arrested him "for the purposes of extradition and Australia extradited him to the United States in December 2018," where he has remained in custody. (end) si.gb