United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
MARCH 15, 2005 HERBERT HADAD, MEGAN GAFFNEY
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 637-2600
FBI
JAMES M. MARGOLIN
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 384-2715, 2720
NYPD
PAUL BROWN
(646) 610-8800
U.S. CHARGES 18 WITH ALLEGED PLOT TO IMPORT AND SELL
RUSSIAN SHOULDER-FIRED MISSILES, ROCKET PROPELLED
GRENADE LAUNCHERS, AND OTHER WEAPONS
DAVID N. KELLEY, the United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York, PASQUALE D’AMURO, the
Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the FBI,
and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the New York City Police Commissioner,
announced today the unsealing of a complaint in Manhattan federal
court charging 18 individuals with various weapons trafficking
offenses, including a scheme to smuggle rocket propelled grenade
launchers (“RPGs”), shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles
(“SAMs”), and other Russian military weapons into the United
States for sale. In addition, the defendants are also charged
with conspiring to traffic in machineguns and other similar
assault weapons, and in fact sold eight such weapons during the
course of the investigation. The arrests are the result of a
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year-long investigation that utilized a confidential informant
(“CI”) who posed as an arms trafficker selling weapons to
terrorists. The FBI’s investigation also included courtauthorized
wiretaps on seven different phones and interceptions
of more than 15,000 calls.
Specifically, the 61-page federal complaint unsealed
today in Manhattan federal court charges ARTUR SOLOMONYAN,
CHRISTIAAN DEWET SPIES, IOSEB KHARABADZE, JOSEPH COLPANI, and
MICHAEL GUY DEMARE with conspiring to transport destructive
devices in interstate and foreign commerce. The complaint also
charges 13 other individuals with weapons trafficking for their
roles in supplying SOLOMONYAN and SPIES with machineguns and
other assault weapons, which were then sold to the CI.
The Complaint alleges that SOLOMONYAN and SPIES, with
the help of KHARABADZE, COLPANI, DEMARE, and other unidentified
co-conspirators were actively preparing to import RPGs, SAMs,
anti-tank missile systems, and other military weapons into the
country from Eastern Europe. The CI, it is alleged, had multiple
conversations with SOLOMONYAN and SPIES over the course of the
conspiracy in which the CI indicated that his clients were
terrorists.
According to the Complaint, SOLOMONYAN and SPIES met
with the CI on several occasions in New York City to discuss the
details of their weapons deals, including in-depth discussions of
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the specifications and prices of various weapons that the
defendants could ship into the United States. The Complaint
alleges that, in June 2004, at a meeting in New York City,
SOLOMONYAN provided the CI with a list of weapons for sale that
included RPGs, stinger missiles, AK-47s, and claymore mines. The
Complaint also details numerous telephone calls between the
defendants discussing the inner workings of their plot to bring
weapons into the country. For example, the Complaint alleges
that in January 2005, SPIES spoke on the phone with COLPANI about
providing the CI with an RPG. According to the Complaint, as
recently as late January 2005, SOLOMONYAN discussed importing 200
RPGs from Armenia for sale to the CI.
Most recently, in late February 2005, SOLOMONYAN and
SPIES provided the CI with digital photos of military weapons in
Armenia that they proposed to import into the U.S. for sale to
the CI. The CI was given the name of a Russian website, a user
name, and a password in order to access the 17 digital photos of
the weapons. These photos, which FBI forensics has determined
were taken in late February 2005, included such weapons as two
SA-7b Strella Surface to Air Heat Seeking Anti-Aircraft Missiles;
a Russian AT-4 Spigot Anti-Tank Guided Missile and Launcher; a
120 mm mortar launcher; Russian 73 mm recoilless anti-tank guns;
and fully automatic AK-74 and AKS assault rifles, according to
the Complaint.
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SOLOMONYAN and SPIES were arrested last night after
meeting one last time with the CI to finalize their plans to
travel to Eastern Europe to arrange the importation of the
military weapons. The FBI arrested them before they could travel
outside of the U.S. to obtain the weapons. The FBI is currently
working with Armenian and Russian authorities to secure the
weapons and to arrest the responsible parties abroad.
According to the Complaint, while SOLOMONYAN and SPIES
were actively arranging the importation of the military weapons
from Eastern Europe, they also sold machineguns and assault
weapons to the CI. Utilizing the services of various weapons
traffickers in New York City, Los Angeles, and Florida, the
defendants provided the CI with eight weapons and conspired to
sell the CI many more. As alleged in the Complaint, each weapon
was delivered by the defendants to storage facilities rented by
the FBI on the CI’s behalf. On several occasions, SOLOMONYAN or
SPIES was surveilled delivering the weapons to various storage
locations. Of the eight weapons, three were delivered in New
York City, three were delivered in Los Angeles, and two were
delivered in Fort Lauderdale. The weapons sold to the CI include
an SKS fully-automatic assault rifle; a Norinco Model NHM91; an
Israel Military Industries Model A Uzi; an Interdynamic Model KG-
9; a Norinco AK-47; a Norinco MA-90 Sporter; an AK-47 made by GN
Romarm SA/Cugir; and an AK-47, BA 36 0543, Arsenal, as well as
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two conversion kits intended to convert both AK-47’s into fullyautomatic
machineguns.
SOLOMONYAN, 26, is an Armenian citizen residing in New
York and Los Angeles. SPIES, 33, a South African citizen,
resides in New York. KHARABADZE, 52, is Georgian and resides on
the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They, along with seven other
defendants, will be presented in Manhattan federal court today.
COLPANI, 53, and DEMARE, 50, both live in Florida and were
arrested there this morning.
Besides SOLOMONYAN, SPIES, COLPANI, and DEMARE, the
other defendants charged with weapons trafficking include:
DMITRIY VOROBEYCHIK, 28, of New York; NIKOLAI NADIRASHVILI, 25,
of New York; LEVON SOLOMONYAN, 24, of Los Angeles; ALLAH MCQUEEN,
23, of New York; RAJAB CHAVIS, 25, of New York; GAREGIN
GASPARYAN, 28, of Los Angeles; MICHAEL JIMENEZ, 35, of Los
Angeles; SHAWN JONES, 22, of New York; LEVAN CHVELIDZE, 28, of
New York; VATO MACHITIDZE, 26, of New York; TIGRAN GEVORGYAN, 21,
of Los Angeles; and ARMAND ABRAMIAN, 27, of Los Angeles.
The six individuals arrested in Los Angeles, and the
two arrested in Florida, will be presented in their respective
federal courts and then brought to New York to face the current
charges.
As a result of the various charges in the Complaint,
SOLOMONYAN and SPIES each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in
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prison. COLPANI and DEMARE face a maximum penalty of 20 years in
prison, and KHARABADZE faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in
prison. The rest of the 13 defendants charged in the Complaint
face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Mr. KELLEY praised the efforts of the FBI and the NYPD
for their handling of this investigation. Mr. KELLEY also
expressed his thanks to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their
assistance in the investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys BENJAMIN M. LAWSKY
and MIRIAM E. ROCAH are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely
accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
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