Crime & Safety

Roswell Businessman Sentenced for Violating Trade Embargo

Mark Mason Alexander was caught selling water-jet cutting systems to Iran.

A federal judge this week sentenced a Roswell business executive to 18 months in prison for violating a U.S. trade embargo by sending water-jet cutting machines to Iran.

Mark Mason Alexander, 53, who also goes by the name of Musa Mahmood Ahmed, was found guilty by a jury in September for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Alexander was alleged to have conspired with two Iranian businessmen to sell water-jet cutting systems manufactured by Hydrajet Technology between October 2006 and June 2008. 

He was the CEO of the Dalton-based company.

During his trial, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta  charged that Alexander concealed the true destination of the machines by having them sent via Hydrajet Mena, a company he owns in the United Arab Emirates, and that he sent employees to Iran to install the machines and to conduct software training.

The United States has imposed a trade embargo with Iran since 1979, when Islamic students in Tehran kidnapped 52 Americans at the U.S. Embassy. They were held hostage for 444 days.

Alexander was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following the completion of his prison term. 


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