'Hard to imagine a bigger betrayal': AZ judge reveals men's Russia aircraft parts scheme
An Arizona judge sentenced two Russian men to prison for sending aircraft parts to Russia in an illegal export scam.
U.S. District Court Judge Dominic Lanza handed Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya an almost six-year sentence on April 2, while Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin was handed a two-year sentence.
The two Florida residents presented themselves to U.S. companies, including one in Arizona, as brokers seeking aircraft parts on behalf of clients in other countries. However, they intended to send the parts to Russia, in violation of heightened export controls in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to court documents.
The two were charged with violating the federal Export Control Reform Act. Patsulya's sentence also reflected his guilty plea to money laundering. He agreed to forfeit more than $4.5M in assets, including a luxury vehicle and a boat, to compensate for the money he made off of the scheme.
In a statement, Lanza identified Patsulya as the leader of the plot, which Patsulya hatched after he had been granted a visa to be in the U.S. legally.
'It's hard to imagine a bigger betrayal of the United States than what you did,' Lanza said.
In his plea agreement, Patsulya acknowledged that by pleading guilty it was "a virtual certainty" that he would be deported from the U.S.
The duo's efforts to obtain parts for a carbon disc brake system used on Boeing 737s led them to an Arizona firm, identified in court documents as "Arizona Company 1."
During a Sept. 8, 2022 visit, the two said they were interested in buying brake parts for a Turkish client and signed forms indicating the transaction complied with export rules. Both actions were lies, court documents stated.
The Arizona deal never went through, but the two pursued other companies and ultimately were able to ship some of the brake systems to Russia, records show.
The case was investigated by the Phoenix field office of the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security and Phoenix-based FBI agents. They were aided by federal investigators in Boston and Miami.
Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on social media @maryjpitzl.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona company targeted in scheme to export aircraft parts illegally
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