Bence Horvath, a 47-year-old Spanish national residing in the United Arab Emirates, has entered a guilty plea in a U.S. District Court for conspiring to export U.S.-origin radio communications technology to Russian end users without obtaining the necessary license. This development was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg.
Horvath admitted guilt to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods to Russia and defraud the United States. The sentencing is set for September 30, 2025, under the supervision of Judge John D. Bates.
Court documents reveal that from January 2023, Horvath engaged with a small U.S. radio distribution company to procure and export military-grade radios and accessories manufactured in the United States to Russia. He planned to use a freight forwarder based in Latvia for transshipment purposes.
As part of this conspiracy, Horvath purchased 200 military-grade radios intending to send them to Russia. However, his plan was thwarted when U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained the shipment, preventing it from reaching unauthorized Russian recipients.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security Investigation’s New Orleans Field Office, along with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Commerce. Support came from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
The prosecution team includes Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Maeghan Mikorski from the District of Columbia's U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as Trial Attorney Sean Heiden from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
