Bence Horvath, a 47-year-old dual citizen of Hungary and Spain who lived in the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced to 31 months in prison by a U.S. District Court for conspiring to illegally export American military-grade radio communications equipment to Russian end users. The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Horvath pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy related to unlawful export of goods to Russia. In addition to his prison sentence, Judge John D. Bates ordered Horvath to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine. He will be deported after serving his sentence.
According to court documents, Horvath began working with others around January 2023 to purchase and send U.S.-made military-grade radios and accessories from a small American distribution company for eventual delivery to Russia through Latvia. He bought 200 radios as part of the plan but did not succeed in sending them because U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted the shipment.
The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California also contributed assistance.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Maeghan Mikorski from the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Sean Heiden from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
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