MOSCOW, December 9 (RAPSI) - Dmitry Ustinov, a Russian national whose extradition by Lithuania to the US provoked outrage in his native country, pleaded not guilty last week to charges relating to illegally smuggling arms, according to court documents obtained by RAPSI.

According to his official case summary, Ustinov faces nine counts, including: two counts of conspiracy to defraud the US, two counts of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, two counts of illegal export or the attempt thereof, two counts of smuggling goods contrary to US law, two counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

An order filed with the court December 5 states that Ustinov has pleaded not guilty to the Indictment. The order further sets a January 9 deadline for pretrial motions. 
Earlier in the week, the court held that Ustinov should be detained pending trial based on the finding of “a serious risk that the defendant will not appear.” According to the document, Ustinov did not contest the government’s motion for pretrial detention.

The court concluded in granting the order that: “Based on the information found in the Superseding Indictment, as well as the report provided by the United States Probation Office recommending the defendant's detention, the Court finds that the no combination of conditions could reasonably assure that the defendant would not be a risk of flight, were the defendant released.”

This conclusion was based on the finding that the case related to the alleged illegal export of goods to Russia, which – according to the order – could be a flight destination. Furthermore, the court reasoned that the evidence against Ustinov is sufficiently strong. Based on his Russian nationality and the nature of the offenses he has been charged with, the court added: “The Government asserts, and at this stage, the defendant does not contest, that his ties to another nation and lack of any ties to this country indicates that the government has met its burden to demonstrate that the defendant is an unacceptable risk of flight if released.”

US investigators reportedly found that in 2010 Ustinov wrote an e-mail to a co-conspirator asking to buy him night vision equipment. Between July 2010 and October 2012, Ustinov allegedly acquired and later sold at least 13 items of military-oriented night vision equipment including PVS-14 sights after smuggling them out of the United States.

On August 14, Lithuania fulfilled a US request to extradite the alleged arms dealer. Ustinov, 46, was detained at Vilnius Airport in Lithuania on April 15 after he arrived from the US to purportedly negotiate a deal to sell night-vision equipment used by the US military.

Moscow expressed outrage shortly thereafter, according to RIA Novosti, which cited the Foreign Ministry’s point man on human rights Konstantin Dolgov as having stated, “[We are] outraged by the fact that American special services and law enforcement agencies are still trying to legitimize the practice of arresting and detaining Russian nationals in third countries on frivolous grounds.”