Pleaded guilty on July 16, 2010 in connection with an indictment, filed on December 30, 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charging Avanessian, along with Farhad Masoumian, with, between June 2005 and January 2010, exporting vacuum pumps and pump-related equipment from the United States to Iran, via Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), without the required authorization in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transaction Regulations (ITR); arrested on January 11, 2010; allegedly received orders from Masoumian on behalf of companies and individuals in Iran, then purchased and shipped the requested goods and technology to Amirhossein Sairafi at AVAC, a company in Dubai, undervaluing and falsely labeling shipments to avoid scrutiny; Sairafi and Masoumian allegedly then arranged to transship the goods and technology from Dubai to Iran; according to the U.S. Department of Justice, the "vacuum pumps and related equipment at issue have a number of applications, including in the enrichment of uranium."

Allegedly was the owner and operator of XVAC, a Glendale, California company with a business address in Tehran; also did business as S. Garny (with a Tehran business address), as GVS, Inc., and as Grande Vitesse Systems South (also known as GVS-South), which shares the Glendale address with XVAC; born in Iran in 1953; moved to the United States in 2001 and is a lawful permanent U.S. resident; allegedly maintained bank accounts and a store in Iran; has a degree in chemical sciences.