FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A Florida federal trial is under way of a woman who allegedly conspired to supply U.S. military night-vision goggles to Iran.
Shahrazad Mir Gholikhan, 30, first pleaded guilty but is now maintaining she was unwittingly drawn into her husband's 2004 trip to Vienna, Austria, to arrange the illegal deal, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege she was fully part of an attempt to deliver thousands of the military-grade items and that the woman's voice could be heard on allegedly incriminating phone conversations. Gholikhan could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if found guilty of violating federal laws prohibiting sale of military equipment to Iran.
Her husband remains at large after efforts to extradite him from Austria failed.
Gholikhan voluntarily returned to Fort Lauderdale in April to face charges.
"The only reason she did that is because she's innocent," her lawyer, William Barzee, told the Sun-Sentinel.
U.S. District Judge James Cohn permitted Gholikhan to retract her guilty plea because she was allegedly misled about the potential severity of her punishment.
