U.S. Offers to Release Convicted Arms Dealer in Exchange for Brittney Griner
CNN.Labeled the “Merchant of Death,” Bout is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after being arrested during a federal sting operation in 2008. Bout, who was accused with conspiring to sell weapons to people who intended to kill Americans, was convicted of offering to sell weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, to federal agents posing as members of the guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.In exchange for Bout’s release, Russia would release Griner and Paul Whelan, a former U.S.