By Madeline Armstrong
Three prosecutors from the Arizona branch of the Department of Justice have been banned from entering Russia, along with 89 other U.S. citizens.
“We remind the current US authorities of the inevitability of punishment for the hostile actions, be they providing direct encouragement to Vladimir Zelensky and his proxies to commit acts of aggression and terrorist attacks or attempts to interfere in the domestic affairs of the Russian Federation,” reads a translated statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. “We are resolved to act consistently with regard to including more individuals who are involved in anti-Russia activities on the list of persons who are denied entry to the Russian Federation in response to the outlandish sanction frenzy that the US ruling elite have worked themselves into.”
Deputy County Attorney of Arizona William Voit, District Attorney of Arizona Gary Restaino and Deputy District Attorney for Arizona Todd Allison have now been added to the list of the hundreds U.S. citizens banned from entering the Russian Federation, including Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona U.S. Representative Eli Crane.
This announcement comes just a few months after the three prosecutors contributed to the conviction of two Russian nationals living in Florida for conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act and export aviation technology to Russia.
According to court documents, the scheming between two individuals, Patsulya and Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin, began in 2022 shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two obtained orders for aircraft parts from U.S. commercial airline companies, including a supplier in Arizona.
“On Sept. 8, 2022, Besedin and Patsulya traveled to Arizona to close a deal with a U.S. company, in which the defendants sought to purchase units of the brake assembly technology,” reads an April 4 statement from the DOJ. “During their discussions with the company, the defendants misrepresented that the aircraft parts were going to be exported to Turkey, when they were in fact destined for Russia. The defendants made false statements both orally to the company and in the export compliance forms.”
Allison and Voit prosecuted the case and the BIS Phoenix Field Office and the FBI Phoenix Field Office are conducting the joint investigation.
“These guilty pleas are just the latest demonstration of our unwavering commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine and stopping those who attempt to prop up the Russian aviation sector,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod in the DOJ statement. “We continue to take aggressive enforcement against those who violate our Russia controls, including those who lie about the identities of their customers in attempts to conceal Russia as the true destination for their goods.”
Other individuals included in the 92 banned individuals are business leaders, researchers, journalists and media outlets.
