Los Angeles ((CNN) -- Federal agents have arrested a California man who allegedly attempted to export a U.S. military fighter jet to Iran, authorities announced Friday.
The arrest followed a seven-month government sting operation, authorities announced.
Marc Knapp, 35, also was charged in a criminal complaint with two felony counts of attempting to export other aircraft parts and controlled technology.
Knapp has agreed to plead guilty to the charges, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kravetz, who is prosecuting the case.
According to unsealed court documents, the case began to unfold after "a cooperating defendant" in the operation introduced Knapp to an undercover agent. As part of the sting, the agent met with Knapp on several occasions at locations in California, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Budapest, Hungary, the court papers say.
The documents say Knapp broached to undercover agent the idea of obtaining an F-5B fighter jet from a source in California. Knapp allegedly told the agent that the "Iranians" might be interested in fighter jet and other items, and allegedly said he wlould not be concerned if the jet or the other items ended up in Iran.
In July, Knapp allegedly sent a contract for the fighter jet to the undercover agent and demanded a $3.25 million purchase price. Knapp was arrested in Delaware in July while negotiating plans to fly the aircraft from California to the East Coast, where it subsequently was to be crated and shipped to Hungary and eventually Iran, the documents state.
The Northrop-designed supersonic fighter jet is part of a group of aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and by the Navy and Marines as a stand-in for "aggressor" fighters in training exercises. But it has primarily been an export plane sold to other militaries. CNN
