A Russian man pled guilty on February 29 to U.S. charges that he smuggled large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia, U.S. justice officials said in a statement. Maksim Marchenko, 51, was arrested in September. He and two other Russians were accused of using shell companies to conceal the fraudulent procurement of microelectronics. Marchenko pled guilty in a New York court to one count of money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and one count of smuggling goods from the United States, which carries a maximum 10 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6.
