WASHINGTON, DC – Bence Horvath, 47, a dual citizen of Hungary and Spain residing in the United Arab Emirates, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 31 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export U.S.-origin radio communications equipment to Russian end users without the required license.
Horvath pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods to Russia. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered Horvath to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine. He will be deported following completion of his sentence.
According to court records, beginning in or around January 2023, Horvath and co-conspirators initiated contact with a small U.S.-based radio distribution company to procure military-grade radios and accessories with the intent to ship them to Russia via a freight forwarder in Latvia. Horvath purchased 200 radios for this purpose, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted and detained the shipment before it could reach the intended Russian recipients.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southeast Field Office, and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California provided support.
Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Maeghan Mikorski for the District of Columbia, along with Trial Attorney Sean Heiden of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Case No. 24-cr-401.
