Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the Merchant of Death, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being caught in a United States sting operation. While 25 years wasn’t quite the life term that the prosecution had sought for terrorism charges, it was still a notable blow to one of the world’s most notorious arms traffickers, the real Lord of War.

Without the elaborate DEA sting operation designed to catch the notorious arms dealer, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin believes that the evidence provided by the prosecution did not indicate that Viktor was ever intent on harming Americans or so much as committing a crime found punishable in the United States. Judge Scheindlin was quoted having said:

“But for the approach made through this determined sting operation, there is no reason to believe Bout would ever have committed the charged crimes.”

While the Merchant of Death was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a $15 million forfeiture, he seemed content upon receiving his sentence as he not only waved to his wife, but hugged his attorney. Not exactly the reversal and dismissal that his defense lawyer had requested, but then again, it’s significantly better than the life imprisonment government prosecutors demanded.

Bout put in a plea of “not guilty” and told the presiding judge that all of the allegations against him were false.

The real Lord of War, Viktor Bout, was accused by prosecutors of dealing weapons to hotbeds of violence such as Congo, Rwanda, and Angola; ultimately fueling the seemingly perpetual conflicts and bloodshed of these war ravaged countries. Additionally, federal prosecutors claimed he was searching for new hot spots of conflict, such as Libya, before his arrest.

Nicolas Cage played an illegal arms trafficker in the popular film Lord of War back which was released back in 2005. His character was inspired by Bout, the real Lord of War.

Viktor’s defense lawyer, Albert Dayan, wrote a letter to Judge Scheindlin in which he conveyed that the prosecution had been motivation to prosecute his client after the United States was embarrassed by the fact that Bout’s companies had helped deliver supplies to American military contractors who were assisting the U.S. in the Iraq War. Despite United Nations sanctions which were imposed against Bout in 2001 based on his reputation as an illegal arms trafficker, deliveries to American contractors succeeded.

A high ranking minister of Britain’s Foreign Office coined the Merchant of Death nickname after Bout had received attention in the 1990s for having run a fleet of old Soviet-era cargo airplanes into focal points of violence in Africa. The moniker has apparently stuck with Bout as it was included in the United States federal government’s official indictment of Viktor Bout.

據(jù)新華社電美國(guó)法官5日宣判，監(jiān)禁俄羅斯籍軍火商維克托·布特25年。這一刑期低于檢方終身監(jiān)禁的要求。

布特現(xiàn)年45歲，先前是蘇聯(lián)空軍軍官，能說(shuō)六國(guó)語(yǔ)言，涉嫌在非洲、南美、中東等地大量販賣軍火，綽號(hào)“死亡販子”，據(jù)信是美國(guó)影星尼古拉斯·凱奇主演影片《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之王》中主角尤里·奧爾洛夫的原型。

布特5日身穿淺綠色囚服，出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)曼哈頓聯(lián)邦地區(qū)法院，他的妻子和女兒坐在法庭第二排。布特站在法官前，再次辯稱無(wú)罪。

美國(guó)法院先前裁定，布特圖謀殺害美國(guó)人、販賣防空導(dǎo)彈和向美方認(rèn)定的恐怖分子提供物資支持等罪名成立。檢方要求判處他終身監(jiān)禁。

法官希拉·沙因德林5日宣判，就其中一項(xiàng)罪名處以25年監(jiān)禁的最低強(qiáng)制量刑，其他三項(xiàng)各15年，同期執(zhí)行，即總刑期25年。

沙因德林說(shuō)，美方對(duì)布特的逮捕和定罪基于“警察圈套”。在美國(guó)特工介入之前，沒(méi)有證據(jù)顯示他計(jì)劃傷害美國(guó)人，或者會(huì)犯下能在美國(guó)定罪的罪名，25年的最低量刑足夠且適當(dāng)。另外，沒(méi)收布特1500萬(wàn)美元。

美國(guó)特工2007年偽裝成“哥倫比亞革命武裝力量”成員，首次接近布特和他的同伙安德魯·蘇馬林。蘇馬林在與特工的碰頭中提及，布特有100枚地對(duì)空導(dǎo)彈、直升機(jī)和反裝甲火箭發(fā)射器等武器，可以按500萬(wàn)美元的價(jià)格運(yùn)送到哥倫比亞。美國(guó)毒品管制局2008年在泰國(guó)曼谷設(shè)計(jì)逮捕布特，2010年11月把他從泰國(guó)引渡至紐約。