Italian arms dealer pleads guilty to selling ammunition to Russia in US court

Published on 10/04/2026 - 13:29 GMT+2

An Italian arms trader is being held successful jailhouse aft pleading blameworthy to illegally exporting much than $540,000 (€461,000) worthy of US ammunition to Russia via Kyrgyzstan, utilizing Italian companies to circumvent export controls, the US Department of Justice revealed.

Manfred Gruber, a income manager astatine a ample Italian firearms distributor, appeared earlier US Magistrate Judge Taryn A Merkl for the Eastern District of New York connected 30 March and admitted to conspiracy to perpetrate export power violations.

Prosecutors said Gruber purchased ammunition from US suppliers and re-exported it from Italy to Kyrgyzstan successful usurpation of Department of Commerce licences that required the ammunition to stay successful Italy. Most of the ammunition was past sent onward to Russia.

Gruber's co-conspirator, Sergei Zharnovnikov, a Kyrgyzstan-based arms dealer, was sentenced to 39 months successful situation successful January aft pleading blameworthy to violating the Export Control Reform Act by sending US-made firearms and ammunition to Russia.

"Gruber's crimes helped prolong a bloody warfare that has claimed countless lives," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg. "The National Security Division is committed to holding accountable those who illegally transmission weapons and ammunition to the Russian warfare machine."

Roman Rozhavsky, adjunct manager of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said Gruber "put galore lives astatine hazard by illegally supplying Russia with American-made military-grade munitions worthy hundreds of thousands of dollars to beforehand its warfare successful Ukraine".

"Today's blameworthy plea demonstrates the sedate consequences of violating US export controls and the FBI's committedness to prosecuting those who illegally substance the warfare efforts of our overseas adversaries," Rozhavsky said.

How the strategy worked

US Attorney Joseph Nocella for the Eastern District of New York said Gruber utilized aggregate companies to conceal his program to nonstop military-grade munitions to Kyrgyzstan earlier they were re-exported to Russia.

Court documents amusement Gruber did not use for, get oregon clasp immoderate licence to export oregon re-export ammunition to Kyrgyzstan.

A Nebraska-based US institution held a licence to export ammunition to Gruber's Italian employer, but the licence required that the ammunition stay successful Italy. Gruber utilized a beforehand institution to re-export the ammunition to Zharnovnikov successful Kyrgyzstan.

A declaration recovered connected Zharnovnikov's telephone showed helium had entered into an statement with a Russian institution for ammunition manufactured by the Nebraska supplier.

A 2nd US institution based successful Tennessee besides had a licence to export ammunition to Gruber's leader successful Italy with the aforesaid restriction. Gruber besides re-exported this ammunition from Italy to Kyrgyzstan.

Encrypted messages

Prosecutors presented encrypted chat messages from 23 September 2023 betwixt Gruber and an unidentified co-conspirator who has not been charged.

When the co-conspirator asked astir delivering 100,000 bullets from the Nebraska supplier, Gruber wrote that helium needed a fewer days to respond and asked whether the full shipment had to beryllium delivered astatine once.

"I'm asking due to the fact that of the imaginable destination," Gruber wrote. "They caught the Slovenian distributor who had triangulated with Russia... FBI International."

The co-conspirator said the petition came from an Armenian lawsuit and the shipment could beryllium split.

"I would accidental it would beryllium better, truthful it goes unnoticed," Gruber replied, followed by a winking emoji.

David Peters, adjunct caput for export enforcement astatine the Commerce Department, said the blameworthy plea demonstrates the government's committedness to "vigorously enforcing US export power laws".

Gruber faces sentencing astatine a aboriginal date. The maximum punishment for conspiracy to interruption export controls is 5 years successful prison.