An Italian judge on Thursday found a Russian businessman guilty of helping a former Russian governor's son flee Italy while facing extradition to the United States, according to media reports.
Dmitry Chirakadze was sentenced to three years and two months behind bars for his role in the escape in March 2023 of Artyom Uss, Corriere della Sera said.
Uss, the son of former Krasnoyarsk region Governor Alexander Uss, faced U.S. extradition over alleged illegal export of military technology, some of which had been "discovered on the battlefields of Ukraine," U.S. authorities said.
He was detained at Milan Malpensa airport on a U.S. warrant in October 2022.
He went missing from his residence the day after an Italian court ordered his extradition to the U.S. in 2023 despite wearing an electronic tracking bracelet.
Several days later, he announced he was back in Russia.
Fellow Russian Chirakadze, a Swiss resident, was arrested in June last year for allegedly helping plan Uss's escape and contacting the members of the gang who pulled it off.
Italian media said Chirakadze was the co-founder of the Pravo.ru group, which provides assistance to Russian court websites.
Announcing the arrest last year, the prosecutor's office described the then-unnamed suspect as an aristocrat descended from a grand duke of Georgia.
He was also a shareholder in "numerous Russian companies with the involvement of members of the Uss family," it added.
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