Arms dealer sentenced to prison
Arms dealer sentenced to prison
Updated 13 minutes ago
A Russian arms dealer has been sentenced to prison for 25 years by a US judge in New York.
Viktor Bout, who was the subject of a book titled Merchant of Death, was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 after Drug Enforcement Administration agents posed as Colombian guerrillas seeking weapons.
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Courtroom sketch shows Viktor Bout during his sentencing by federal judge Shira Scheindlin in New York.
PHOTO: AFP / Shirley Shepard
He was extradited to New York in November 2010 to face trial.
Prosecutors say he constituted a threat to United States and the world. The defence argued Bout was just trying to sell two old cargo aircraft for $US5 million.
Bout, 45, was convicted by a Manhattan federal court jury in November last year after a three-week trial.
Judge Shira Scheindlin also ordered him to forfeit $US15 million.
US agencies said he has been involved in trafficking arms since the 1990s to dictators and conflict zones in Africa, South America and the Middle East.
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