Convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout says he has evidence to justify a new US trial and has hired the law firm of former US attorney general John Ashcroft to help him pursue his case.
Bout, 47, is serving a 25-year prison sentence following his conviction in 2011 for conspiring to kill US soldiers by way of his agreement to sell weapons to a Colombian rebel group.
According to filings on Monday with the US district court in Manhattan, Bout hired the Ashcroft law firm and Alexey Tarasov, a Houston-based lawyer, to help him obtain a new trial based on unspecified “newly discovered evidence”.
On Monday, US district judge Shira Scheindlin granted Bout until 1 Jan 2015 to formally seek a new trial, allowing his new lawyers more time to examine the issues.
Bout’s deadline to seek a new trial had been Monday, but he said the office of US attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan was “not opposed” to a 60-day extension.
Michael Sullivan, a partner at Ashcroft’s firm and former US attorney in Massachusetts who would work on the case, declined to comment. Tarasov did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokeswoman for Bharara declined to comment.
Bout’s challenge follows the refusal in September 2013 by the federal appeals court in Manhattan to overturn his conviction, which he claimed followed a “vindictive” prosecution and his improper extradition from Thailand to face US charges.
Jurors convicted Bout of having agreed to sell arms to informants posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which the US government had deemed a foreign terrorist organisation, and conspiring to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles.
Co-defendant Richard Chichakli, a dual American and Syrian citizen, was convicted of conspiracy charges last December.
Bout is in a medium-security prison in Marion, Illinois, and is not eligible for release until 15 December 2029. He was the subject of a 2007 book Merchant of Death.
Ashcroft served from February 2001 to February 2005 as US attorney general under President George W Bush.
The case is US v. Bout, US district court, southern district of New York, No 08-cr-00365.
