Two US Men Sentenced for Conspiring to Sell Iranian Oil to China, Reports Reuters

By Kanishka Singh

Two men from Texas were sentenced on Tuesday to 45 months in prison after being convicted by a U.S. jury in November for attempting to sell Iranian petroleum, violating U.S. sanctions, and conspiring to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department.

Zhenyu Wang, a 43-year-old Chinese citizen, and 42-year-old Daniel Ray Lane from McKinney, Texas, collaborated with co-conspirators to bypass U.S. economic sanctions against Iran between July 2019 and February 2020. They facilitated the procurement of sanctioned oil from Iran, disguised its origins, and then sold it to a refinery in China.

Lane served as president of Stack Royalties, a privately held company in Texas that sells oil and gas mineral rights to investment funds and private equity groups.

Lane’s attorney, Paul Hetznecker, argued last year that the case stemmed from undercover government agents who enticed Lane with the prospect of "millions of dollars in profits" after he initially declined their proposals. Hetznecker described the situation as "an outrageous example of government overreach."

The two men were among five individuals charged in 2020 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. At least two of their co-conspirators have since pleaded guilty.

China remains the only significant importer of Iranian oil, despite sanctions reimposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018 following the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with six major world powers.