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Iranian smuggler deported from U.S.

Published: Jan. 4, 2013 at 5:26 PM

CHICAGO, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. immigration officials Friday deported an Iranian convicted of shipping equipment that could be used for uranium enrichment.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations deported Amirhossein Sairafi, 44, who was released from the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., Thursday. Sairafi boarded a commercial flight to Tehran, Iran, in Chicago.

Sairafi and two others were convicted of conspiring to ship highly specialized vacuum pump equipment to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States, money laundering and violating the IEEPA March 7, 2011, and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

As part of the conspiracy, federal documents indicate Sairafi mislabeled shipments to hide the nature of the equipment, which potentially can be used for uranium enrichment.

Topics: Terre Haute, Ind.

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