Bence Horvath Sentenced for Illegally Trying to Send U.S. Tech to Russia

Bence Horvath, 47, a dual citizen of Hungary and Spain residing in the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced to 31 months in U.S. federal prison for conspiring to illegally send U.S.-made military-grade radios to Russia. He pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025, and will also serve three years of supervised release, pay a $5,000 fine, and be deported after completing his sentence.

According to court documents, Horvath began working in early 2023 to acquire advanced radio communication devices and accessories from a small U.S. distributor. He intended to send the items to Russian users through a freight forwarding company in Latvia, violating U.S. export control laws. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted the radios before they could leave the country.

The case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office, and Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California assisted in the prosecution effort.

Separately, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro recently cited a sharp decline in violent crime during a community forum in Washington, D.C. She attributed the drop in homicides and robberies to former President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge but was met with pushback from residents concerned about federal overreach and the presence of masked agents.

The forum took place as Trump signed an executive order reinstating the federal death penalty for certain crimes, including the killing of police officers. This move reversed a moratorium enacted under President Biden. Pirro and Attorney General Pam Bondi have been directed to pursue capital punishment in eligible cases to the fullest extent of the law.