Smuggling US-made Military Electronic Devices To Their Country, Russian Man Sentenced To Three Years In Prison

JAKARTA - A Russian man who pleaded guilty to US charges of smuggling a large number of American-made military standard microelectronics into Russia was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice said.

The department also said the man named Maxim Marchenko (52) was also sentenced to three years of parole after he was released.

Marchenko is based in Hong Kong. He was detained by the US in September. He and two Russian conspirators are accused of using shell companies to hide fraudulent OLED micro-display procurement.

"The remittance of military-class microelectronics through Hong Kong to Russia helped power Russia's war engines," said Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the US Department of Commerce's Industry and Security Bureau.

"Today's punishment is just the latest example of our relentless efforts to target and disrupt Russia's illegal procurement network," added Axelrod.

Federal prosecutors said OLED microscreens could be used in rifle binoculars, night vision glasses, thermal optics to other weapons systems.

Marchenko and his fellow conspirators mistakenly stated that multiple-use technology, which means it has civilian and military applications, is being sent to China, Hong Kong and elsewhere for use in electron microscopy for medical research, prosecutors said.

Marchenko himself pleaded guilty in a New York court in February to one charge of money laundering and one charge of smuggling goods from the United States.

The United States and its allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia to weaken its military capabilities since the Moscow invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022.