3 Plead Guilty in Bid to Send Radar Parts to Iran

Three men pleaded guilty Monday to shipping or trying to ship spare parts for the Hawk missile radar system to Iran, officials said.

Moises Broder pleaded guilty to one count of illegally exporting the parts. His two accomplices, Eduardo Ojeda and Carlos Ribeiro, pleaded guilty to one count each of attempting to export the parts, said Assistant U.S. Atty. William Fahey.

U.S. District Judge Harry Hupp scheduled sentencing June 3 for Broder and Ribeiro and June 10 for Ojeda.

The three men changed their pleas from innocent when the government agreed to drop the conspiracy charge. They were indicted last February along with fugitives Jackie Singer and Afonso Bonacho on charges of conspiracy and illegal exportation.

Undercover Agents

The indictment said that Broder, Ojeda and Ribeiro bought 23 items for military radar systems last January from undercover agents for $619,000.

The government also claimed that Broder and Bonacho bought two other parts for use in the Hawk system in February, 1984, for $26,000 from undercover agents. Those parts made it to Iran, but the first 23 parts were seized last January along with the $619,000 in Orange County, Fahey said.

Ojeda’s attorney asked Hupp on Monday for return of the $619,000 check used to buy the military parts, but Hupp refused.

On several other occasions, Singer, Bonacho and Broder offered to buy other equipment, including some for use in the F-4 and F-5 jet fighters, but the sales were not completed, Fahey said.