Military Supplies Involved : Not Guilty Plea in Exports to Iran Case

A Phoenix man arrested last week on charges of conspiring to export radar equipment to Iran pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Floyd Stilwell, 61, president of Marsh Aviation Co. in Mesa, Ariz., remains free on $250,000 bail set Tuesday.

Stilwell is also charged with exporting defense articles to Iran and making false statements to U. S. Customs agents.

U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving set a May 16 discovery hearing and a July 18 motion hearing.

Marsh Aviation, a corporation that repairs jet engines and sells aircraft parts, is charged with the same offenses.

The indictment alleges that Stilwell submitted false export information to the State Department, U.S. Customs Service and Teledyne Ryan Electronics in San Diego in order to conceal that components for the doppler navigational system were destined for Iran, not West Germany.

Stilwell was indicted April 8 by a federal grand jury, but the indictment was not revealed until U.S. Atty. Peter Nunez held a press conference April 13 after Stilwell’s arrest.

Other related indictments unsealed last week include ones against a West German company, its president, and two employees who have since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export defense equipment.