Sharon Gohari, an Iranian national, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday to smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States, including at least one individual tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said Gohari, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in Roslyn, N.Y., and traveled frequently to Iran, operated a years-long scheme moving Iranian nationals through Mexico and into the United States for profit.
In one case detailed by investigators, Gohari allegedly arranged travel for an IRGC-linked individual from Iran to Turkey, then to Mexico and across the U.S. border, where the individual was later detained by Border Patrol agents. The individual reportedly admitted to carrying out assignments for the IRGC in Iran and Malaysia.
“As this case illustrates, we cannot protect our national security without a secure border,” Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said. “Gohari made a business of smuggling aliens into the United States, at least one of whom had ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
Federal authorities said Gohari coordinated travel routes through Central and South America while charging clients thousands of dollars to facilitate unlawful entry into the United States.
He also pleaded guilty to receiving child sexual abuse material uncovered during the investigation.
“Anyone who seeks to profit through the abuse and exploitation of other people, especially children, will be held fully accountable,” said New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.
