To the Viktor go the spoils....

[TheProle]

“Today, one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers is being held accountable for his sordid past,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Viktor Bout’s arms trafficking activity and support of armed conflicts have been a source of concern around the globe for decades. Today, he faces the prospect of life in prison for his efforts to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to terrorists for use in killing Americans."

“ As the evidence at trial showed, Viktor Bout was ready to sell a weapons arsenal that would be the envy of some small countries,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. “He aimed to sell those 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. I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who investigated this case on three different continents and helped to bring Viktor Bout to justice.”

Since the 1990s, Bout has been an international weapons trafficker. As a result of his weapons trafficking activities in Liberia, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control within the Department of Treasury placed him on the Specially Designated nationals list in 2004. The designation prohibits any transactions between Bout and U.S. nationals, and freezes any of his assets that are within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Between November 2007 and March 2008, Bout agreed to sell to the FARC millions of dollars’ worth of weapons – including 800 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), 30,000 AK-47 firearms, 10 million rounds of ammunition, five tons of C-4 plastic explosives, “ultralight” airplanes outfitted with grenade launchers and unmanned aerial vehicles. Bout agreed to sell the weapons to two confidential sources working with the DEA (the “CSs”), who represented that they were acquiring them for the FARC, with the specific understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack U.S. helicopters in Colombia.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/international-arms-dealer-viktor-bout-convicted-new-york-terrorism-crimes

[Turbineguy]

1. He now owes Putin

If he can't do Putin any good, he might be taking flying lessons. One lesson anyway.

If he does help Putin he'll be on the Ukrainians' shit list.

He may have been safer in Club Fed.

[TheProle]

2. He won't be sidelined, much less liquidated

According to Christopher Miller, a journalist who has corresponded with neo-Nazis imprisoned along with Bout at U.S. Penitentiary Marion in Illinois, the former arms dealer kept a photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin in his cell and said he did not believe Ukraine should exist as a state.

https://www.reuters.com/world/who-is-viktor-bout-russian-arms-dealer-swapped-griner-2022-12-08/

Even if you assume he’s burned all his arm-dealings bridges, he still would be a valuable consultant on such matters and is ideologically aligned w. Putin as regards Ukraine.