Bence Horvath, a 47-year-old dual citizen of Hungary and Spain who lived in the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced to 31 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export U.S.-origin military-grade radio communications equipment to Russia. The sentencing took place in U.S. District Court, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Horvath pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods to Russia. In addition to his prison sentence, Judge John D. Bates ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine. Upon completion of his sentence, Horvath will be subject to deportation.
Court documents state that starting around January 2023, Horvath and others contacted a small U.S. radio distribution company with the goal of acquiring and exporting U.S.-manufactured military-grade radios and accessories to Russia. Over several months, Horvath arranged for the purchase of these items and planned to ship them through Latvia before reaching Russian end users.
As part of the scheme, Horvath bought 200 military-grade radios intended for export to Russia. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained the shipment before it could reach its destination, preventing the equipment from being delivered to prohibited Russian recipients.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California provided assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Maeghan Mikorski for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Sean Heiden from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.
"There is no quotation in this press release."
