Viktor Bout

Viktor Bout
Born:	January 13, 1967 (commonly reported; see flags) Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union (now Tajikistan)
Charges:	Conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals; conspiracy to kill U.S. officers and employees; conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles; conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (FARC)
Sentence:	25 years (mandatory minimum); the remaining ~7 years commuted by President Biden on Dec 2, 2022
Released:	December 8, 2022
Facility:	FCI Marion (medium-security)
Status:	Released Dec 8, 2022 in a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap; returned to Russia (no longer in U.S. custody)

Viktor Bout is a Russian arms dealer and former Soviet military translator, widely nicknamed the "Merchant of Death," who was convicted in U.S. federal court in 2011 of four terrorism-related conspiracy counts after a Drug Enforcement Administration sting in which he agreed to sell weapons to agents posing as buyers for Colombia's FARC. On April 5, 2012, U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin sentenced him to the mandatory-minimum 25 years in prison in the Southern District of New York. He served his sentence in the federal system, including in the Communications Management Unit at U.S. Penitentiary Marion, Illinois (a medium-security facility), until December 8, 2022, when President Biden commuted his remaining sentence and he was released in a one-for-one prisoner exchange for American basketball player Brittney Griner. He returned to Russia and subsequently entered regional politics.

Early Life and Career

Born most likely on January 13, 1967, in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union (now Tajikistan), Viktor Bout is a former Soviet military translator. He is reported to have been trained at a Soviet military language institute and discharged around the 1991 Soviet collapse with a reported rank of lieutenant colonel. Over the 1990s, he built an air cargo empire that included companies such as Air Cess, based in Sharjah, UAE, which was used to move weapons into conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. After British minister Peter Hain publicly detailed his sanctions-busting arms operations, Bout earned the nickname the "Merchant of Death," and his network was cited by the UN for fueling wars in Angola and Sierra Leone.

Criminal Case

Between November 2007 and March 2008, Bout agreed to sell millions of dollars of weapons, including surface-to-air (anti-aircraft) missile systems, armor-piercing rocket launchers, AK-47s, ammunition, land mines, C-4 explosives, and unmanned aircraft, to individuals he believed represented the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization. The buyers were confidential sources working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. During these interactions, he was recorded acknowledging that the weapons could be used to kill Americans. On March 6, 2008, the Royal Thai Police arrested Bout in Bangkok. A grand jury in the Southern District of New York indicted him on four conspiracy counts. After Thai courts initially denied and then subsequently approved extradition, Bout was extradited to the United States on November 16, 2010.

Trial and Sentencing

Following a roughly three-week jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bout was convicted on November 2, 2011, on all four counts: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, conspiracy to kill U.S. officers and employees, conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, and conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. On April 5, 2012, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin sentenced him to 25 years in prison, the mandatory minimum, declining the government's request for a life sentence. She reasoned there was no evidence he would have committed the crimes absent the government sting. Prosecutor Preet Bharara referred to Bout as "international arms trafficking enemy number one."

Incarceration

During pretrial and trial proceedings, Bout was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York. After sentencing, he was designated to the U.S. Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois. The facility is officially USP Marion, but it was reclassified from supermax to a medium security facility in 2006 and is appropriately associated with FCI Marion (medium-security). He was housed in the Communications Management Unit (CMU), a tightly monitored unit for inmates requiring heightened oversight of their communications. His Bureau of Prisons register number was 91641-054, and he remained there until his release. Before his commutation, his projected release date would have been around August 2029.

Release and Aftermath

On December 2, 2022, President Joe Biden commuted the remainder of Bout's sentence to enable a prisoner exchange. On December 8, 2022, Bout was released in a one-for-one swap for WNBA player Brittney Griner, who had been detained in Russia on a drug charge. The exchange occurred on the tarmac at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Bout subsequently returned to Russia. On December 12, 2022, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) announced he had joined the party. On July 2, 2023, he officially won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ulyanovsk Oblast as an LDPR member.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What did Viktor Bout do?

He was a Russian arms dealer convicted in U.S. federal court in 2011 of four terrorism-related conspiracy counts after agreeing, in a DEA sting, to sell weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, to agents posing as buyers for Colombia's FARC, a designated foreign terrorist organization. He was recorded acknowledging the arms could be used to kill Americans.

Q: How long was Viktor Bout's sentence?

On April 5, 2012, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin sentenced him to 25 years, the mandatory minimum. Prosecutors had sought life. In December 2022 President Biden commuted the remaining roughly seven years to allow a prisoner exchange.

Q: Where was Viktor Bout incarcerated?

He was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York during trial, then at U.S. Penitentiary Marion in Illinois, a medium-security facility, in its Communications Management Unit, under BOP register number 91641-054.

Q: When was Viktor Bout released?

He was released on December 8, 2022, in a one-for-one prisoner swap for American basketball player Brittney Griner, conducted in Abu Dhabi, after President Biden commuted his remaining sentence on December 2, 2022. He then returned to Russia.

Q: What happened to Viktor Bout after his release?

He returned to Russia, joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and on July 2, 2023 won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ulyanovsk Oblast.

See also

• Index of Federal Prison Facilities
• FCI Marion (medium-security)