WASHINGTON D.C.
An Australian man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison on four counts of violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to officials.
The law criminalizes knowing transactions with Iranian entities without a license from the U.S. Department of Treasury, officials said.
David Russell Levick, 57, of Cherrybrook NSW, Australia, pled guilty to the charges on Feb. 1, 2019, in federal court.
Federal Court Judge James E. Boasberg also ruled that Levick must pay a forfeiture amount of $199,227, which represents the total value of the goods involved in the illegal transactions.
Following completion of his prison term, Levick will be subject to deportation proceedings, according to officials.
According to the plea documents, Levick was the general manager of ICM Components, Inc., located in Thornleigh Australia.
He solicited purchase orders and business for the goods from a representative of a trading company in Iran.
This person in Iran, referenced in court documents as “Iranian A,” also operated and controlled companies in Malaysia that acted as intermediaries for the Iranian trading company.
Levick then placed orders with U.S. companies on behalf of “Iranian A” for the goods, which were aircraft parts and other items that “Iranian A” could not have directly purchased from the United States without the permission of the U.S. government.
The defendant admitted to procuring or attempting to procure the following items for transshipment to Iran, each of which required a license from the Treasury Department prior to any export to Iran:
- Precision Pressure Transducers. These are sensor devices that have a wide variety of applications in the avionics industry, among others, and can be used for altitude measurements, laboratory testing, measuring instrumentations and recording barometric pressure.
- Emergency Floatation System Kits. These kits contained a landing gear, float bags, composite cylinder and a complete electrical installation kit. Such float kits were designed for use on Bell 206 helicopters to assist the helicopter when landing in either water or soft desert terrain.
- Shock Mounted Light Assemblies. These items are packages of lights and mounting equipment designed for high vibration use and which can be used on helicopters and other fixed wing aircraft.
When necessary, Levick used a broker in Tarpon Springs, Florida, through whom orders could be placed for the parts to further conceal the fact that the parts were intended for transshipment to “Iranian A” in Iran, officials said.
Levick intentionally concealed the ultimate end-use and end-users of the parts from manufacturers, distributors, shippers, and freight forwarders located in the United States and elsewhere.
In addition, Levick and others structured their payments between each other for the parts to avoid trade restrictions imposed on Iranian financial institutions by other countries.
Levick and ICM wired money to companies located in the United States as payment for the parts.
The activities took place in 2007 and 2008. Levick was indicted in February 2012.
At the request of the United States, Australia arrested him for the purposes of extradition, and Australia extradited him to the United States in December 2018, according to authorities.
He has remained in custody here.