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U.S. Court Agrees Bout Move to Lower Security Prison

RIA Novosti

14:50 04/06/2012 NEW YORK, June 4 (RIA Novosti) - A U.S. court has decided to transfer convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to a medium-security prison in Marion, Illinois after a three-party meeting between the Attorney's Office, the court and his defense, Bout's counsel Albert Dayan told RIA Novosti on Monday.

Bout was originally to be sent to a notorious "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado, but on May 15, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York suspended Bout's transfer to the Colorado prison at Dayan's request.

“The Marion prison was originally built as a high-security prison for dangerous criminals and was later modified into a medium-security penitentiary,” the counsel's assistant said. “It is located in a hard-to-reach area, so it will be difficult to visit Viktor.”

Bout is currently in a medium-security prison in Brooklyn, where to he was moved to after spending nearly 15 months in solitary confinement in a Manhattan jail.

Dayan said the defense may file further requests to transfer Bout to a nearer location, although Judge Shira Scheindlin says she will not consider any requests for Bout's transfer.

Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a New York Federal Court for planning to sell arms to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). He was arrested after U.S. agents posed as arms buyers in a "sting" operation.. Bout has always denied the charges against him.

Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier the United States may consider Bout’s extradition to Russia if they receive a request from the Russian authorities.