Probation, fine for company that sent machine to Iran

SALINE (AP) — A company in Washtenaw County has been placed on probation for five years and ordered to pay $200,000 for selling industrial equipment to a company in Iran.

Mectron’s attorney had warned the company that it was illegal to sell equipment to Iran without an export license. Mectron didn’t get one before selling a parts inspection machine in 2010 for $47,500.

The Saline-based company pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced Wednesday.

In a court filing, federal prosecutor Lynn Helland says U.S. companies generally can’t trade with Iranian companies, although some restrictions ended under a recent agreement related to Iran’s nuclear weapons program.