MOSCOW, December 8 (RAPSI) - The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the 180-month prison sentence for Belarusian national Sergey Boltutskiy convicted of illegal trafficking of high-tech military hardware and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to court documents obtained by RAPSI.

According to the U.S. authorities, between January 1, 2008 and September 21, 2011, Boltutskiy organized illegal export of night vision targeting devices to Belarus in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Boltutskiy and his accomplices illegally exported hundreds of these items. Then he arranged for hundreds of thousands of dollars to be secretly wired, via offshore companies, to purchase these items, to pay for shipping, and to pay his network of buyers, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Boltutskiy has pleaded guilty.