Dual US, Russian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Shipping Firearm Parts to Russia

Dimitry Timashev, a dual U.S. and Russian citizen, pleaded guilty on June 7 to illegally exporting firearm parts and ammunition to Russia, DOJ announced.

DOJ said Timashev worked with a Russian "associate" from July 2020 to 2023 to ship weapon parts from the U.S. to Russia in exchange for tuition payments for his daughter and rent for an apartment in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Timashev sent the ammunition to addresses in Russia prior to the nation's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, then after that time, was told by the unnamed associate to send the parts to the associate's relative's apartment in Kazakhstan, where they were then forwarded to Russia, DOJ said.

Timashev sent the goods to Kazakhstan, knowing the final end-users were in Russia, and hid them by "misrepresenting the contents of the shipments on the accompanying manifests," DOJ said. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and faces a maximum five-year prison sentence. Sentencing is set for Nov. 8.