Iranian Given Three Years in Theft Scheme : Crime: Surprise greets sentence for mastermind of plot to smuggle sophisticated U.S. military hardware to his homeland.

An Iranian who masterminded a scheme to smuggle sophisticated U.S. military hardware to Iran and was sentenced Tuesday to three years in federal prison said he was motivated by patriotism.

The relatively light sentence handed to Saeid Asefi Inanlou by U.S. District Judge Leland Nielsen stunned courtroom observers, especially because prosecutors labeled the crime a serious breach of national security.

Two of Inanlou’s co-defendants, brothers Franklin Agustin and Edgardo Agustin, received 13 years and 18 years, respectively, in prison sentences handed down by Nielsen in 1987.

“When I did this act, I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong. I was helping my country,” said Inanlou, who added that he now realizes his acts were “criminal and morally wrong.”

“I only ask for the opportunity to show your honor how truly sorry I am and to make amends for my act. God bless you,” Inanlou said. He also thanked Nielsen for treating him “equally and with justice.”

Inanlou was convicted on two counts and sentenced to three years on each count. However, Nielsen set the sentences to run concurrently and gave him credit for 10 months served in a West German jail and here. Inanlou was also fined $250,000.

Nielsen was swayed pleas for leniency by Inanlou and his attorney.

“I’ve been on this case for about five years,” Nielsen said. “Frankly, I think (Inanlou) should be treated substantially different from the other defendants.”

The judge said Inanlou “owed allegiance to Iran,” which at the time “was engaged in a life or death struggle with Iraq.”

Initially, Inanlou was indicted on 90 counts, but the remaining charges were dismissed. He had successfully avoided extradition from England for three years before his arrest in December, 1988, in West Germany. He was free on $1-million bail, which he met by using $400,000 cash and properties posted by friends in Los Angeles and Contra Costa counties.

Inanlou, 42, is the last of seven defendants who were sentenced by Nielsen for stealing parts for the F-14 Tomcat fighter, including inertial navigation aids and guiding mechanisms for the Phoenix air-to-air missile.

The Agustins, including Franklin’s wife, Julie, recruited Filipino sailors serving in the U.S. Navy to secure the jet parts from ship storerooms and military warehouses throughout the United States.

U.S. Customs agents said the ring operated between January, 1981, and July, 1985. Assistant U.S. Atty. Phillip Halpern said investigators traced 26 shipments made by the Agustins to Inanlou, who lived in London. Halpern said that only eight of the shipments, containing $3.4 million in parts, were seized.

Halpern, who prosecuted the other defendants in the case, challenged Inanlou’s plea that he was motivated by patriotism when he helped steal the parts and shipped them to Iran. The prosecutor pointed out that Inanlou also made a handsome profit from the scheme, enabling him to move from a shabby London apartment to a walled $1.5-million mansion dubbed the “Little Manor” in a fashionable of London neighborhood.

“It’s clear that being a patriot to his country is not the same here,” said Halpern, who added that Inanlou also owns a home in southern France. “The fact of the matter is that Inanlou violated (U.S.) laws that are very serious . . . and he did that for a profit.”

Defense attorney Juanita Brooks said that her client bought the homes with money “from a family trust.” Earlier, Brooks agreed that Inanlou had broken the law but argued that in the overall scheme of things, the damage was minimal.