(The Center Square) – In addition to Chinese spies, human smugglers and violent criminals being arrested in Florida, high profile prosecutions continue against illegal foreign nationals. Recent cases include conspiring with Iranian officials, human smuggling, identity theft, passport fraud, voter fraud, money laundering and others.
In one recent case, a federal jury convicted a Middle East salesman, Brian Assi, of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. Assi attempted to unlawfully export and smuggle goods from the U.S. to Iran, submitted false or misleading export information, and conspired to commit money laundering, but was caught, arrested and prosecuted.
“The defendant schemed to unlawfully export U.S.-origin mining drills to Iran, while deceiving his employer into believing that they were being sent to Iraq,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida.
According to evidence presented at trial, Assi worked as a salesman for a multinational heavy machinery manufacturer that has a U.S.-based subsidiary and production plant located in northern Florida. He conspired with individuals affiliated with Tehran-based Sakht Abzar Pars Co. to export U.S.-made heavy machinery to Iran without obtaining required licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Assi and his Iranian co-conspirators used an Iraq-based distributor as the forward-facing purchaser of two U.S.-origin blasthole drills from the U.S. subsidiary of Assi’s employer. The drills are used to dig holes for explosives for mining.
Assi facilitated the sale of the drills and used freight forwarding companies to ship them from the U.S. to Turkey to conceal “any Iranian involvement in the transaction from his employer, claiming the drills were ultimately destined for use in Iraq. But in truth, Assi intended for his Iranian co-conspirators to transship or reexport those items from Turkey to Iran, in circumvention of U.S. export control and sanctions laws,” prosecutors argued.
The scheme also involved inputting false information into a U.S.-government database on exports indicating the items were being shipped to Iraq. Assi and his coconspirators also caused the transfer of approximately $2.7 million from Turkey to pass through the U.S.
Prosecutions continue against alleged human smugglers at sea and on land.
In one case, a Bahamian national and Haitian national face federal charges in the Southern District of Florida after being apprehended by U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) crew at sea.
According to the criminal complaint, the two men in their 20s were charged with violating federal law related to failing “to heave to, obstruction of boarding;” the Bahamian faces charges for “encouraging or inducing aliens to come to, enter, and reside in the United Sates,” and “re-entry of a removed alien.”
Earlier this month, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter spotted them in a 25-foot boat roughly three nautical miles west of Bimini, Bahamas, traveling with no lights at night through international waters, according to the charging affidavit. “Once the boat entered U.S. territorial waters, a CBP Air and Maritime Operations vessel approached the boat, ordering its drivers to stop. They kept going but were apprehended by CBP.
Once on board, agents found 22 illegal foreign nationals, performed biometrics testing and background checks and determined none were authorized to legally enter the U.S.; one of the alleged smugglers was deported last year.
The two alleged smugglers were arrested, charged, and remain in federal detention pending trial; 20 on board were returned to the Bahamas.
When apprehended at sea, USCG crew members repatriate foreign nationals to their country of origin or port of origin. Under President Donald Trump’s border security directives, the USCG has expanded its operations, The Center Square reported.
In another human smuggling case, a 26-year-old illegal foreign national pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami “to conspiring to smuggle aliens into the United States.”
In this scheme, after illegally entering the U.S. in November 2022, she collected nearly $11,500 from individuals in South Florida promising to smuggle their family members from Cuba into the U.S. After receiving the money, she and a coconspirator loaded 18 foreign nationals onto a small fishing vessel “with no life jackets and with a captain who, according to the two survivors, did not appear to know how to operate the vessel,” according to the complaint. The vessel sank; everyone except two drowned. Among the victims were children ranging from nine months old to 16-years-old. If convicted, the smuggler faces five years to life in prison.
Another recent case includes a 45-year-old Dominican national charged with impersonating a U.S. citizen when registering to vote, voting in a federal election and unlawfully possessing a firearm in Broward County. This is after he was previously indicted for passport application fraud and aggravated identity theft and in January pleaded guilty to the passport fraud allegations, according to the complaint.
The Dominican was illegally living in the U.S. for 20 years, 18 under a false identity. In 2007, an arrest warrant was issued for him in New Jersey on charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, endangering a child, and criminal restraint.
Other cases involve Mexican nationals indicted for aggravated identity theft and making a false statement on a passport application and “illegal reentry by a previously deported alien.”