Iranian National Pleads Guilty To Smuggling Illegal Alien With Terror Ties Into U.S.

Sharon Gohari, an Iranian national, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday to unlawfully smuggling aliens into the United States and intentionally receiving child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Gohari, a naturalized United States citizen from Iran who resided in Roslyn, New York, in Nassau County, and traveled frequently to Iran, engaged in alien smuggling activities from at least December 2020 until his arrest in May 2025. According to court records, he solicited and received payments from Iranian nationals and others seeking to enter the United States unlawfully.

In exchange, he arranged and facilitated their entry, primarily through Mexico. This included assisting individuals in obtaining travel visas at the Mexican embassy in Iran and coordinating their travel to and through Mexico and into the United States, often in large groups.

Gohari also assisted a number of individuals with passing through South and Central American countries on their way to the United States. He did so through a number of associates in Iran and elsewhere and charged thousands of dollars per client for these services, according to a Justice Department press release.

At least one individual aided by Gohari had associations with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the United States Department of State has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In early 2021, Gohari facilitated the travel of this individual from Iran to Turkey, then to Mexico, and from Mexico into the United States.

The individual was eventually detained by border patrol officers and later confessed to law enforcement that he had carried out tasks in Iran and Malaysia for the IRGC.

CASE UPDATE from @NewYorkFBI: New York-Based Iranian National Pleads Guilty to Alien Smuggling and Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Material

Sharon Gohari, a naturalized U.S. citizen and who resided alternately in Iran and Nassau County, New York, solicited and received payments… pic.twitter.com/fYEbxSTm5P

— FBI (@FBI) May 12, 2026

During the investigation of Gohari’s alien smuggling activities, federal agents discovered that he had received and stored CSAM on his phone. This included multiple videos depicting the rape of children, apparently as young as five years old.

In subsequent chat communications, Gohari stated his intention to seek out sexual partners in a high school. Agents also recovered hundreds of photos and videos on his devices showing women in various public places throughout New York City, including on trains and at cafes, prosecutors said.

Some were captured at close range, with angles suggesting an attempt to view under the women’s skirts or other garments. Other materials depicted the same women in multiple locations, indicating they had been followed. Gohari sent some of these photos and videos to an Iranian-based account from which he had received CSAM, as well as to other Iranian-based accounts.

“As this case illustrates, we cannot protect our national security without a secure border. Gohari made a business of smuggling aliens into the United States, at least one of whom had ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated foreign terrorist organization. I applaud the investigators and prosecutors who made possible today’s plea, taking this defendant off our streets,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg

For the charge of receiving child sexual abuse material, Gohari faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years. For alien smuggling, he faces a mandatory minimum of three years in prison and a maximum of 10 years.

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