A federal jury has convicted Romanian citizen Virgil Flaviu Georgescu, 43, of conspiring to sell large quantities of military-grade weaponry to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization, to be used to kill Americans in Colombia.
The conviction, announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, followed a 10-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York.
‘As the jury swiftly found, Virgil Flaviu Georgescu conspired to kill American officers and provide material support to the FARC,’ said U.S. Attorney Bharara. ‘In concert with his co-defendants, Georgescu conspired to obtain and sell to the FARC military weapons, including anti-aircraft cannons and rocket propelled grenades, to be used against American personnel and aircraft in Colombia. Having sought to profit from the murder of U.S. officers abroad, Georgescu has now been convicted in the U.S. by a unanimous jury.’
According to the allegations in the indictment, other documents publicly filed in federal court and the evidence introduced at trial, Georgescu, a Romania-based weapons broker, conspired with his co-defendants, a former Romanian government official and a former member of the Italian Parliament, to sell an arsenal of weapons, including machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons, to the FARC, with the understanding that the FARC would use the weapons against U.S. personnel in Colombia.
Between May 2014 and December 2014, Georgescu and his co-conspirators agreed to sell the weapons to three confidential sources (CSs), who represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC but were, in fact, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Georgescu and his co-conspirators agreed to provide these weapons to the CSs with the specific understanding that the weapons would be used to kill Americans and, in particular, to shoot down American helicopters and airplanes.
Georgescu first spoke with a CS in May 2014. Thereafter, Georgescu recruited both of his co-conspirators to help obtain the weapons for the CSs, with the understanding that the former Romanian government official would provide weapons expertise and the former Italian Parliament member would help secure fraudulent end-user certificates, in order to make the illegal sale of weapons look legitimate.
Georgescu instructed his co-conspirators and others involved in the deal to use encrypted applications when communicating about the weapons deal to avoid detection by U.S. authorities. Over the course of five consensually-recorded meetings with the CSs in Romania and Montenegro, Georgescu and his co-conspirators provided the CSs with catalogues of weapons that included anti-aircraft cannons, rocket propelled and thermobaric grenades and other high-powered weapons, as well as military-grade optical equipment.
The conviction was announced on May 21, 2023 and was the result of a 10-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York. Georgescu faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Matthew D. Podolsky and Andrew C. Adams of the Southern District of New York.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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