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Tempe couple pleads guilty after threatening ICE officers during June arrest

Jun 21, 2025·Location: Tempe, AZ

Country of origin: Iran

Tempe couple pleads guilty after threatening ICE officers during June arrest
Photo via yourvalley.net

An Iranian national and his U.S. citizen wife pleaded guilty following a June 21, 2025 confrontation with ICE agents at their Tempe home. Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand pleaded guilty to being an immigrant in possession of firearms and ammunition, while his wife, Linet Vartaniann, pleaded guilty to threatening a federal law enforcement officer. A federal grand jury had indicted the couple on June 24 on these charges after ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers arrived to arrest Eidivand for failing to comply with a 2013 removal order he had unsuccessfully challenged before the Board of Immigration Appeals on several occasions. When officers arrived, Vartaniann refused to open the door, called Tempe police, and threatened to shoot anyone who entered the home; a search warrant executed the next day by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and ERO found two loaded firearms inside. Both face potential prison sentences at their November sentencing hearing.

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