Retrial Denied in Iran Arms Exporting Case

An Encino businessman convicted of selling military supplies to Iran was denied a new trial Monday, but a federal judge said he would consider reducing the man’s prison term in light of covert U.S. weapons shipments to Iran.

Hassan Kangarloo, 27, was sentenced in October to 30 months in prison after he was convicted of violating federal export-control laws for exporting military radio parts to Iran in 1985.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson took the request for a retrial under submission in January after Kangarloo’s attorney, Donald B. Marks, argued that the federal government nullified its own 1979 ban on weapons shipments to Iran by making covert arms transactions.

Marks also asked that the Iranian-born Kangarloo’s sentence be shortened to time already served, which is now about eight months.

On Monday, Wilson said he would take the Iran- contra scandal into account in considering a decreased sentence. But Wilson also said Kangarloo may have perjured himself during the trial by making false statements and that this could weigh against a reduction, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Modisett.

The revelation of U.S. government arms deals with Iran prompted a nationwide rush of appeals for new trials or reductions of sentences for several arms shipment cases.

In Florida, a U.S. district judge recently granted new trials to two California men convicted in December in a plot to ship missiles to Iran.

Citing the disclosure of the Iran arms deal, U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp in February ordered retrials for Paul Cutter, 47, of San Jose and Charles St. Claire, 52, of Granada Hills. Modisett said that Cutter and St. Claire contended that they acted on the belief that the government approved their arms transactions.

No Government Permission

In denying Kangarloo’s request for a new trial, Wilson said that Kangarloo never alleged to have overt or covert government permission to ship the radio parts to Iran. Wilson in January said he was not impressed with the argument that Kangarloo was denied a fair trial because prosecutors failed to disclose government weapons shipments to Iran.

Marks said he would research the Florida case and file a new request for a retrial if it turns out that the defense there was similar to the one used in Kangarloo’s case.