Saint James Hartline@JamesHartline
Mr. Persianboi, Mahdi Hemmat, the Iranian living in Hawaii who has terrorized and implied death threats against U.S. government officials and prominent U.S. citizens on social media appears to have a family member who was just sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for traveling to Florida to meet with a 12-year-old girl after sending her fast food, cash, and other gifts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mohammad Ali Hemmat, 29, of Milwaukee, was sentenced to 45 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release, officials said. He must also forfeit electronic devices and must register as a sex offender in any state he lives.
Hemmat was already a registered sex offender in Wisconsin for a sex crime conviction in 2015.
Hemmat groomed the 12 year-old girl between April 2022 and March 2023 through social media and text messages, officials said. He also shared obscene material with the child.
In February 2023, Hemmat traveled from Wisconsin to Florida to engage in sexual activity, according to the DOJ. A month later, he traveled to Florida again but got caught by law enforcement in Indiana while returning to Wisconsin.
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury found Mohammad Ali Hemmat (29, Milwaukee) guilty of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, production of child sexual abuse material, traveling on two occasions from Wisconsin to Florida for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor, and committing these offenses while required to register as a sex offender.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, between April 2022 and March 2023, Hemmat used his cellphone and computer to sexually groom the 12-year-old girl in the Middle District of Florida.
Hemmat groomed the minor through daily video chats, text message conversations, and by sending her cash, gifts, and fast food. Hemmat shared obscene material with the child through social media applications, and used a social media platform to remotely log-in to the minor victim's laptop - which he had purchased for her - to search online for sexually explicit topics, images, and videos. The minor victim subsequently sent explicit images of herself to Hemmat over the internet.
In February 2023, Hemmat drove from Wisconsin to Florida for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with the minor. In March 2023, Hemmat drove to Florida for a second time for the same purpose, but law enforcement was alerted to his presence by the minor victim. Although Hemmat attempted to return to Wisconsin without detection, law enforcement in Indiana apprehended him.
Evidence presented at trial also showed that Hemmat had engaged similar tactics in grooming a 13-year-old child in the United Kingdom to send sexually explicit images of herself to Hemmat. Hemmat has a prior conviction for an offense involving a minor, requiring him to register as a sex offender in Wisconsin when he committed the above offenses.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Pasco Sheriff's Office, the Jasper County (Indiana) Sheriff's Office, the Sussex County (United Kingdom) Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ilyssa M. Spergel and Risha Asokan.
Multiple online records show "Persianboi" Mahdi Hemmat lived in Wisconsin and shared the same address as Mohammad Ali Hemmat and other members of the Hemmat family. An extremely concerning issue regarding Mahdi Hemmat is that he ritually posts photographs of himself with very young girls who he claims are his daughters, but he's involved in a gay relationship. Mahdi Hemmat was previously arrested in Honolulu for attempted murder after a roommate he was living with was shot in the head. Hemmat was released from custody the day after he was arrested. The roommate eventually died from the gunshot wound.