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Two Face Sentencing in Kentucky Courtroom for Plot to Ship Aircraft to Iran

An Iranian national and an American citizen who worked as an airline pilot are scheduled to be sentenced in a plot to ship helicopters and aircraft parts to Iran's state-run civilian airline in violation of the U.S. trade embargo.

U.S. District Judge Joseph McKinley is scheduled to hand down the sentences on Monday for Hamid Asefi, a 68-year-old Iranian citizen, and 53-year-old Behzad "Tony" Karimian, a U.S. citizen living in Louisville who holds a valid Iranian passport.

The pair pleaded guilty in December to violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. That law allows the president to impose economic sanctions against another country.

Prosecutors say none of the parts or aircraft was intended for the military.