NEW YORK — The Russian arms dealer dubbed the “Merchant of Death” for his willingness to supply weapons in conflicts around the globe was convicted Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan of conspiring to kill Americans.
Viktor Bout, a one-time Soviet military officer who once controlled a fleet of cargo planes to ferry arms, faces life in prison after being caught in a U.S. sting operation. He believed he was selling missiles to Colombian guerrillas to shoot down American helicopters.
“He’s resolute,” defense lawyer Kenneth Kaplan said of Bout after the verdict. “He’s a strong man. He accepts the verdict and is hopeful.”
The defense had argued that even as Drug Enforcement Administration undercover operatives posing as members of the FARC narco-terror group were trying to lure Bout into a weapons deal, he was trying to get them to buy cargo planes without ever committing to a weapons sale.
As a result of the sting, Bout was arrested in Thailand in March 2008. With the support of the Russian government, he resisted extradition for two years but was transferred to the United States last year.
Newsday
