Iranian national pleads guilty to smuggling illegal aliens into US, including man tied to IRGC

An Iranian national and naturalized US citizen has pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to smuggling foreign nationals into the United States, including one individual linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also pleaded guilty to receiving child sexual abuse material.

Sharon Gohari, who lived in Roslyn, New York, and frequently traveled to Iran, admitted to running a years-long scheme in which he charged Iranian nationals and others thousands of dollars to help them unlawfully enter the United States, primarily through Mexico.

Federal prosecutors said Gohari operated from at least December 2020 until his arrest in May 2025, working with associates in Iran and elsewhere to obtain visas, arrange travel through Mexico, and move clients into the US in large groups.

At least one person Gohari helped had ties to the IRGC, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization. Authorities said the individual traveled from Iran to Turkey, then to Mexico, before entering the United States, where he was detained by Border Patrol. The man later told law enforcement he had carried out tasks for the IRGC in Iran and Malaysia.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said the case showed that “we cannot protect our national security without a secure border,” adding that Gohari had “made a business” of smuggling people into the country.

During the investigation, federal agents also found multiple videos of child sexual abuse material on Gohari’s phone, including videos depicting the rape of children. Prosecutors said Gohari also stored hundreds of photos and videos of women who appeared to have been secretly recorded in New York City, including on trains and in cafes.

Some images appeared to show women being followed, while others were allegedly taken at close range or angled under clothing. Authorities said Gohari sent some of the material to Iran-based accounts, including one from which he received CSAM.

Gohari faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to 20 years on the child sexual abuse material charge. He also faces a mandatory minimum of three years and up to 10 years for alien smuggling.