The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owner of a Pennsylvania company that makes steel-processing equipment has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on a charge he conspired to illegally sell an $800,000 machine to an Iranian firm.
Documents in the case were unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Harrisburg. The agreement is subject to a judge’s approval.
Helmut Oertmann is CEO and owner of Hetran Inc., of Orwigsburg. Prosecutors say he falsified paperwork to get around a U.S. trade embargo and deliver a machine to be used in Iran for the production of high-grade steel.
Oertmann’s lawyer, Teresa Taylor, says Oertmann is fully cooperating and taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Prosecutors say charges also were filed against an overseas sales representative for Hetran, three Iranian nationals and two Iranian firms.
