Notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout is on trial in Manhattan for allegedly conspiring to sell weapons to DEA agents posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who claimed they intended to use the weapons against American pilots flying over Columbia to monitor drug activity. Yesterday the judge in that case ruled that statements Bout made to the DEA agents while he was in custody in Thailand, where he was initially arrested for the charges relating to the FARC sting, were inadmissible.

The judge concluded that, contrary to testimony, the agents had been aware of the Thai police’s refusal after Mr. Bout’s arrest to grant him access to legal counsel and to a representative of the Russian embassy. She also found that the agents’ contention that they would have no further access to him after their initial meeting was “false” and that they were untruthful when they denied insinuating they could take Mr. Bout to the United States immediately if he “cooperated” and waived extradition.

Instead, Judge Scheindlin credited the defense team’s assertion that the agents had threatened Mr. Bout, insinuating that he would face “disease, hunger, heat and rape” in Thai jails, where he would face abandonment if he failed to cooperate with the American agents.

Of course, not everything has been so rosy for Mr. Bout in his trial. Last week the same district court judge ruled that the prosecution could introduce evidence of sanctions that were imposed on Mr. Bout by the US and UN for his arms dealing activities although the government could not introduce evidence relating to why the sanctions were imposed. Bout’s lawyer claimed that such evidence was prejudicial and continues to maintain that Mr. Bout has never engaged in arms dealing or arms brokering. As they say, that’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

For those interested in why sanctions were imposed on Mr. Bout, details can be found in this previous post on Export Law Blog

This blog reported in detail back in March of this year on the prosecution of Henderson Chua, a Philippine citizen, arising from his importation of military drone parts into the United States. Based on information in the indictment, it seemed to me that there were significant holes in the government’s case. Even so, and as is often the case, it is reported that Chua is expected to plead guilty tomorrow to the government’s charges.

As I noted in the original post, after Mr. Chua listed the parts on eBay, a government sting was conducted with U.S. agents pretending to be buyers for the parts. Initially, the government agents seemed to think, incorrectly, that the permanent import of the parts was illegal, which would not be the case because they were not listed on the United States Munitions Import List So the agents changed the deal and told Chua that the parts were for re-export to Russia, which would have required a license both for the temporary import into the United States and for the permanent export to Russia. Chua told them that he couldn’t sell them the items for export from the United States and had the agents sign an agreement not to export the items. From my point of view, the prosecution was going to have a hard time establishing that Chua had requisite criminal intent.

The anticipated guilty plea was reported on by DC political blog TPM Muckracker, which contained this howler about the case:

The Raven is listed on the U.S. munitions list as a defensive item, and U.S. law forbids people from buying and selling defense equipment without permission from the government.

Uh, no. U.S. law only forbids export of such equipment without permission. I can buy all the Category VIII(h) military aircraft parts I want without a license as long as they stay here in the United States. I guess it’s easier for a reporter simply to make things up than to, say, fire up Google in their web browser or, imagine this, to call an expert.

A new bio of Arnon Milchan — who, among other things, produced the movie “Pretty Woman” — alleges that he had a secret life as a spy and links him to an 1980s criminal export case. The book, Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon – Arnon Milchan, by Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman, is a subject of a report today in Haaretz, which gives the details.

According to the Haaretz story, Milchan was recruited by Shimon Peres to work for the Israeli spy agency LAKAM which was tasked with making purchases for Israel’s nuclear program

For years, Milchan operated in secret, yet in the mid-1980’s U.S. customs uncovered an attempt to smuggle “switches” –- equipment that can be used both for medical purposes and for nuclear weapons manufacture -– by the California-based Milco company, owned by Milchan. The company’s CEO, Richard Kelly Smyth, was arrested and released on bail. He fled the country soon after.

Smyth was declared a fugitive, and according to some reports found refuge in Israel. In 2001 he was captured in Spain and was brought back to the U.S., where he stood trial and was incarcerated. The FBI began an investigation into Milchan’s affairs, yet he has never been charged.

According to the book, right after the “switches” fiasco Milchan called his friend Peres, then prime minister, and asked for his help in dealing with the Ronald Reagan administration. Milchan is quoted in the book as saying he never received money for his services, and that everything he did was for the state of Israel.

Laura Rozen, whose post alerted me to the story, notes that the switches were krytrons, which are used to trigger spark gap switches to detonate nuclear devices. Laura also notes that Richard Kelly Smyth was not incarcerated upon his conviction but received parole because of his old age.