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Hyperbole substitutes for facts. Juries are intimidated to convict. Right-wing judges go along. America's criminal justice system's corrupted. Targeted victims rarely have a chance.
In Bout's case, their was no plot, no crime, and no intent to commit one. Nonetheless, he was lawlessly entrapped to make it look that way.
On November 2, 2011, Bout was convicted of conspiring to sell weapons to Colombia's FARC-EP. The State Department spuriously designated it a "foreign terrorist organization."
The Justice Department said "He aimed to sell weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans. With today's swift verdict, justice has been done, and a very dangerous man will be behind bars." The DEA was thanked for its helped. Another innocent man was framed.
He faced 25 years to life. Prosecutors asked for the maximum. Late Thursday, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin gave him the minimum mandatory 25 year sentence. His Russian lawyer Viktor Burobin said he's wrongfully characterized as an "enemy of the American people." He's nothing of the sort.
Bout insists he's innocent. He said charges against him were fabricated. He accused media scoundrels of repeating "sensationalist and irresponsible coverage of his case."
He ran a legitimate air cargo business. He said everything he did was legal. A lawless Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting entrapped him. He hopes Russian authorities will intervene on his behalf. They've tried but need to do more. Otherwise he'll do hard time and rot like other US injustice victims.
Bout's Background
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