Andrey Shevlyakov pleaded guilty on July 23 in federal court in Brooklyn to conspiracy to commit export violations for his role in a procurement network that obtained sensitive electronics for the benefit of Russian military and government contractors. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Rachel P. Kovner. Shevlyakov faces a maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment and has agreed to forfeit approximately $1.5 million to the government. He was arrested by Estonian authorities in 2023 and extradited to the United States in August 2025.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division; Jason M. Hudson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Houston; and Ramon Alvarado, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security – Office of Export Enforcement’s Dallas Field Office announced the guilty plea.
“For nearly a decade the defendant operated a foreign procurement network and supplied sophisticated U.S. technology to hostile Russian military actors, undermining U.S. national security and the security of our allies,” said United States Attorney Nocella, “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that our Office will vigorously prosecute and hold to account those who aid Russian attempts to illegally procure U.S. technology, no matter who they are or where they reside.”
Nocella expressed appreciation to the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and Estonia’s Internal Security Service (KAPO) for their assistance with investigating Shevlyakov’s conduct as well as securing his arrest and extradition.
“Andrey Shevlyakov’s arrest was the result of a spinoff case from a much larger FBI investigation that goes back some 14 years,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Hudson. “Given the length, complexities and transnational borders involved, this case was extremely difficult, but at the end of the day our team endured and justice prevailed. Shevlyakov’s plea is the result of the FBI’s commitment to national security and relentlessness in preventing our foreign adversaries from illegally acquiring U.S. technologies for their weapons systems – technologies that can one day be used against our own service members.”
According to court documents, Shevlyakov engaged over several years in efforts to evade U.S export controls after being added by authorities at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) onto its Entity List—a designation prohibiting him from acquiring items from American sources without permission from BIS authorities.
Shevlyakov used multiple shell companies to deceive manufacturers based in America into supplying sensitive technology which he then shipped onward toward defense contractors as well as agencies belonging directly under Russia’s government structure.
He repeatedly flouted these restrictions even after being notified about his status on BIS’ Entity List: when an American company refused an order because he appeared on such list—informing him directly—he canceled it only to soon afterward place essentially identical orders under false names using different email addresses.
The illegal scheme ultimately resulted in exports exceeding $1 million worth—including low-noise pre-scalers plus synthesizers designed specifically around high-frequency communications along with analog-to-digital converters utilized inside avionics, missile, and electronic warfare platforms—for use by Russian customers including defense contractors plus telecommunications entities whom he communicated with extensively about procurement details.
Travel records indicate between 2010-2016 alone he crossed frequently between Estonia and Russia—over one hundred documented border crossings, many completed same-day—and Finnish records show an incident where border guards discovered roughly €70k worth of electronics hidden throughout his car while attempting smuggling activities into Russia without proper customs declaration.