US | Fri Oct 23, 2015 7:02am EDT

Man who sent details on U.S. military jets to Iran to be sentenced

HARTFORD, CONN. | BY RICHARD WEIZEL

A dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who pleaded guilty to trying to export sensitive information about U.S. military jets to his native Iran could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison at a hearing on Friday.

Mozaffar Khazaee, who had worked as an engineer at U.S. defense contractor Pratt & Whitney, was arrested in January 2014 as he tried to leave the country with sensitive material about the engines for the U.S. Air Force's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F-22 Raptor aircraft in his luggage.

Khazaee also had exchanged e-mails containing information about the programs with Iranian contacts.

While he pleaded guilty to the charges, Khazaee maintained in court papers that he sent information on the jets as part of a presentation he had prepared while seeking a job with an Iranian university after being laid off by his prior employer, a unit of diversified manufacturer United Technologies Corp., in 2013.

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