Firm Indicted in Exportation of F-4 Jet Parts Without License

A Utah-based company with a facility in Ventura County and two of its officials were indicted in Salt Lake City on federal charges of exporting parts for F-4 Phantom jet fighter-bombers to England and West Germany without the required licenses.

Elgie Corp. of Layton, Utah, which has a 27,000-square-foot plant in Camarillo, was named in the 46-count indictment Friday, along with Fred R. Williams of Westlake Village and Dennis D. Evans of Kaysville, Utah.

Williams was president of the company and Evans was vice president at the time of the alleged offenses, federal prosecutors said.

The case started last year with allegations that the aircraft parts were sent to Europe on the first stage of a journey to Iran. U.S. Customs Agent John Juhasz filed an affidavit in court last year saying the firm was exporting to Iran.

But federal prosecutor Richard Lambert said Friday that he had no evidence to bear out those allegations. “We don’t know where the parts went once they were in England and West Germany,” he said.

The indictment alleges 46 separate exports of jet parts without a federal license. Lambert said the maximum penalty for each offense is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The corporation faces a fine of up to $250,000, he said.