90 likes | 252 Vues
A defiant Russian arms dealer dubbed the Merchant of Death was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison, far short of the life term prosecutors sought for his conviction on terrorism charges that grew from a U.S. sting operation.
E N D
Alleged arms smuggler Viktor Bout from Russia looks on from behind bars at a criminal court in Bangkok in this October 4, 2010 file photo. Bout, the Russian arms dealer who was the subject of a book titled \"Merchant of Death,\" was sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 5, 2012 by a U.S. judge in New York. Bout was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting operation and extradited to New York in November 2010 to face trial. Picture taken October 4, 2010. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/Files (THAILAND - Tags: CRIME LAW) THAILAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN THAILAND
REFILE - CORRECTING HEADLINE Alleged arms smuggler Viktor Bout from Russia is escorted by members of the special police unit as he arrives at a criminal court in Bangkok in this October 4, 2010 file photo. Bout, the Russian arms dealer who was the subject of a book titled \"Merchant of Death,\" was sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 5, 2012 by a U.S. judge in New York. Bout was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 after a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting operation and extradited to New York in November 2010 to face trial. Picture taken October 4, 2010. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/Files (THAILAND - Tags: CRIME LAW)
This Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 file photo provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration shows Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in U.S. custody after being flown from Bangkok to New York in a chartered U.S. plane. The ex-Soviet officer turned arms dealer faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison at sentencing Thursday, April 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Drug Enforcement Administration, File)
This image provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration shows Russian arms trafficking suspect Viktor Bout, center, in U.S. custody after being flown from Bangkok to New York on Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 in a chartered U.S. plane, extradited in manacles to face terrorism charges despite a final outraged push by Russian diplomats to persuade Thailand to release him.
Alla Bout, the wife of convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, stands near his photo as she attends a protest in front of the US Consulate in St.Petersburg in December last year, to demand his extradition to Russia. A US court on Thursday was to sentence Bout for conspiring to sell a massive arsenal to anti-American guerrillas in Colombia. (AFP Photo/Olga Maltseva)
This image provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration shows Russian arms trafficking suspect Viktor Bout, center, being led off the plane after being flown from Bangkok to New York on Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 in a chartered U.S. plane, extradited in manacles to face terrorism charges despite a final outraged push by Russian diplomats to persuade Thailand to release him.
Alla Bout, the wife of Viktor Bout, arrives at Manhattan Federal Court for the first day of jury selection in New York. Viktor Bout, the alleged Russian arms dealer described by the United States as \"one of the most dangerous men\" in the world, went on trial Tuesday in New York
This image provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration shows Russian arms trafficking suspect Viktor Bout, center, in U.S. custody after being flown from Bangkok to New York on Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 in a chartered U.S. plane, extradited in manacles to face terrorism charges despite a final outraged push by Russian diplomats to persuade Thailand to release him.