Photo: PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP via Getty; KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty
Viktor Bout is leaving the United States.
After spending nearly 10 months in custody, U.S. basketball playerBrittney Grinerwasreleased from Russian jailin exchange for the Russian arms dealer in aone-for-one prisoner swapon Dec. 8.
President Joe Bidensigned off onthe trade, which took place in the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi airport. Griner, who was sentenced in August to 9 years in a Russian prison on charges of smuggling drugs into the country,landed in the U.S. Friday, withher first destination set to be the Brooke Army Medical Centerin San Antonio, Texas for treatement.
Bout’s return to Russia signifiesone of the most high-profile prisoner swapsbetween Moscow and Washington since the Cold War.
“The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a post about Bout’s release on Telegram. "
Vladimir Putin has been pursuing Bout’s releasesince Bout was arrested in the U.S. in 2012.
Bout’s U.S. lawyer Steve Zissou said in a statement that Putin “never gave up on him during the fifteen yearsof his wrongful incarceration, just as President Biden and the U.S. State Department never gave up on Ms. Griner.”
Find out what Bout has been incarcerated for, what’s next for him and more below.
Who is Viktor Bout and what crimes did he commit?
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According to a U.S. Treasury report cited in theWall Street Journal, Bout hada reputation in the smuggling worldfor “being able to deliver anything, anywhere, anytime” — fueling wars from Africa to the Balkans to Asia.
U.S. prosecutors have deemed him one of “the world’s most successful and sophisticated arms traffickers,” and former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara said he armed “some of the most violent conflicts around the globe.”
Bout, a former Soviet military officer, is from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan; details on his early life before he gained notoriety for his arms dealing are murky.
How was Viktor Bout caught?
U.S. Department of Justice via Getty
Bout was caught and arrested in 2008 after an elaborate sting operation that was enacted when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration tracked his travels across several countries to a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.
More than two years later, Bout wasextradited to the United Stateswhere he stood trial on terrorism charges. Throughout his trial, Russia — as well as Bout —insisted that he was innocentand claimed his case was politically charged, reported Reuters.
What was Viktor Bout charged with?
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The indictment charged Bout withfour separate terrorism offensesupon being extradited to the Southern District of New York from Thailand. The Office of Public Affairs detailed them in a statement issued in November 2010.
They included conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, conspiracy to kill U.S. officers or employees, conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
“For more than a decade, Mr. Bout is alleged to have plied a deadly trade in surface-to-air missiles, land mines, bullets, death and destruction,” said Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the DEA in the statement.
It continued, “Fortunately, with his arrest, extradition, and pending prosecution… his last alleged attempt to deal in death means that he will finally face justice.”
Throughout his trial, Bout maintained his innocence, saying he was a businessman just looking to sell planes.
What was Viktor Bout sentenced with?
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Prior to the trial, Bout was looking at a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of all counts. In 2011, a U.S. jury found him guilty of conspiracy to kill Americans and US officials, delivering anti-aircraft missiles and aiding a terrorist organization.
In 2012, Bout wassentenced to the minimum 25 years behind barsand was sent to serve his sentence in a medium-security facility in Marion, Illinois.
Where is Viktor Bout now?
PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP via Getty; KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty
After serving 11 years of his 25-year sentence in the United States, Bout wasreleased in a one-for-one prisoner swapwith WNBA’s Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on drug smuggling charges in August.
On Dec. 8, the day the trade went down, Bout returned to Russia. Bout’s mother, Raisa,thanked President Vladimir Putin and the Foreign Ministryfor freeing her son, Tass (a Russian News Agency) reported, per theWSJ.
source: people.com
