New York-Based Iranian National Pleads Guilty to Alien Smuggling and Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Material

BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Iranian national Sharon Gohari pleaded guilty to unlawfully smuggling aliens into the United States and intentionally receiving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). For years, Gohari, who is a naturalized United States citizen and resided alternately in Iran and Nassau County, New York, solicited and received payments from Iranian nationals and others seeking to enter the United States unlawfully in exchange for arranging and facilitating their entry. At least one individual whom Gohari aided had associations with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been designated by the United States Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). During the investigation into Gohari’s illegal activities, law enforcement discovered that Gohari received and stored multiple videos on his phone depicting the rape of children, as well as hundreds of photos and videos reflecting the stalking and surreptitious recording of women throughout New York City. Today’s proceeding was held before United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly. Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Donald Holstead, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Division (FBI); James C. Barnacle, Jr, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI, New York Field Office (FBI); Frank J. Russo, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the guilty plea. “The defendant exploited and endangered vulnerable individuals for profit, over and over again,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “In doing so, he also put our national security at risk and circumvented the vital procedures that are in place to vet those entering our country. Our Office will continue to aggressively pursue transnational criminal schemes operating here in the United States, especially when they involve terrorist groups like the IRGC that seek to do us harm. And we will always prosecute the sexual exploitation of children to the fullest extent of the law.” Mr. Nocella praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, for their crucial assistance. Mr. Nocella also thanked the Homeland Security Task Force, a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. “As this case illustrates, we cannot protect our national security without a secure border,” said Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg. “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. I applaud the investigators and prosecutors who made possible today’s plea, taking this defendant off our streets.” “The defendant admits to helping people illegally enter the United States -- including someone associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – which endangers our country’s national security,” said FBI Assistant Director Holstead. “It is essential to protect our borders, and the FBI works closely with our interagency partners to prevent anyone from being smuggled in, especially those connected to our adversaries. This individual will now face justice not just for that crime but also for sexually exploiting children, the most vulnerable members of our society.” “Sharon Gohari threatened our n