Jury convicts Iranian in night goggles case
FORT LAUDERDALE (AP) – A federal jury on Thursday convicted an Iranian woman of attempting to obtain thousands of pairs sophisticated U.S.-made night-vision goggles for Iran’s military and police.
Jurors found Shahrazad Mir Gholikhan, 31, guilty of trying to illegally broker the deal to export the goggles, which are subject to strict controls, and of seeking to violate the U.S. embargo against Iran. But the jury acquitted her of three conspiracy counts.
Gholikhan, who acted as her own attorney during the trial, said she would appeal and insisted the she is innocent.
“I won’t give up. It’s OK. God is here,” Gholikhan said in a brief courtroom interview. She appeared relieved that the trial was over.
U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn set sentencing for March 6. Gholikhan, who has already spent a year in jail, faces a total of about five years in prison on the three convictions. Her first trial earlier this year ended in a hung jury.
The 12 jurors declined comment.