July 3, 2023 10:29am EDT
Former Russian arms dealer traded for Brittney Griner runs for office under far-right political group
'Merchant of death' Viktor Bout is looking to join Russia's legislature
By Anders Hagstrom | Fox News
The former arms dealer, who the U.S. traded in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, is running for office in Russia as a member of a far right political party.
Viktor Bout, 56, has joined Russia's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is now running to be elected to the regional legislature. The LDP currently holds 23 of the 450 seats in Russia's legislature. The party is to the right of Russian President Vladimir Putin's dominant United Russia Party.
The arms dealer, once known as the "merchant of death," had been serving a sentence in the U.S. after his 2008 arrest in Thailand. He was freed in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap for Griner, who had been sentenced to nine years in prison for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabinoids.
Bout served just 10 years of his 25-year sentence in the U.S.
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https://www.foxnews.com/world/russian-arms-dealer-traded-brittney-griner-runs-office-far-right-political-group
