A dual Russian-American citizen pleaded guilty to illegally exporting weapons components and ammunition to Russia amid the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday.
Dimitry Timashev, 58, illegally exported the items from the U.S. to Russia from around July 2020 to 2023 in exchange for financing of his daughter’s education and rent, according to the DOJ’s statement.
An associate of Timashev’s provided him with the names and addresses of the recipients of the firearm components and ammunition shipped to Russia, the DOJ stated. The associate also paid Timashev’s daughter’s tuition and rent in Ekaterinburg, Russia, as compensation for Timashev’s illegal exportation of the packages, according to the DOJ.
“Before July 6, 2022, all the packages were shipped to Russia,” the DOJ’s statement reads. “After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, Timashev could no longer create a U.S. Postal Service label to send packages of firearm components to Russia. Instead, Timashev’s associate directed him to send the components to his relative’s apartment in Kazakhstan, from where the goods would be sent to Russia.” (RELATED: Elite School Alumni Charged With Conspiring To Export Weapons To Violence-Rocked Country)
Dimitry Timashev, 58, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen pled guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act by exporting firearm parts, components, and ammunition to Russia without the required authorization.#Virginia #USAO #justice https://t.co/xgLdBSmGEf
— U.S. Attorney EDVA (@EDVAnews) June 7, 2024
Timashev did not have the required license from the Department of Commerce despite being aware exports of the kind he was making required licensing, according the DOJ. Rather, he “concealed the illegal exports by misrepresenting the contents of the shipments on the accompanying manifests,” the DOJ added.
Timashev is expected to face sentencing Nov. 8, 2024 and could be in prison for a maximum of five years, according to the DOJ.
The investigation is ongoing, involving a multiagency force including Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the DOJ stated.
The development follows a similar case involving Hong Kong-born U.S. citizen and former Central Intelligence Agency officer Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 71. Ma pleaded guilty May 24, 2024 to providing China‘s Shanghai State Security Bureau with “with a large volume of classified U.S. national defense information,” according to the DOJ. He will reportedly be sentenced Sept. 11, 2024. A co-conspirator of his is reportedly a Shanghai-born blood relative as well as a fellow naturalized U.S. citizen and ex-CIA officer.