New York (WRGB) — An Italian national admitted in federal court to helping funnel American-made ammunition through Central Asia and into Russia, in a scheme prosecutors said supported Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Manfred Gruber pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit export control violations after illegally exporting ammunition worth more than $540,000 from the United States to Kyrgyzstan through companies he and a co-conspirator controlled in Italy. After the ammunition reached Kyrgyzstan, most of it was subsequently reexported to Russia.

The proceeding was held before U.S. Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl in the Eastern District of New York.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said,

Gruber’s crimes helped sustain a bloody war that has claimed countless lives. NSD is committed to holding accountable those illegally funneling weapons and ammunition to Russia’s war machine.

Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division said,

Manfred Gruber put many lives at risk by illegally supplying Russia with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of American-made, military-grade ammunition to advance its war in Ukraine. Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the serious consequences of violating U.S. export controls and the FBI’s commitment to holding accountable those who illegally fuel our foreign adversaries’ war efforts. We will continue working with our partners across law enforcement and the private sector to safeguard our national security by keeping American-made military supplies out of the hands of hostile nation-states.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella for the Eastern District of New York stated,

The defendant used multiple companies to hide his scheme to send military grade ammunition to Kyrgyzstan, before it was reexported to Russia to support its war effort. I commend our partners at the FBI and the Department of Commerce for uncovering this deadly scheme and swiftly bringing Gruber to justice.

Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters said,

Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment, in concert with our partners, to aggressively enforce America’s export control laws.

Court filings say Gruber is director of sales for Italian Company-1, described as a large wholesale distributor of firearms and ammunition. Prosecutors said he was a key member of an international ammunition procurement network for Russia during its war against Ukraine, purchasing ammunition from the United States and reexporting it to Kyrgyzstan in violation of Department of Commerce licenses issued to Italian Company-1 that required the ammunition to remain in Italy. Gruber did not apply for, obtain or possess a license to export or reexport ammunition to Kyrgyzstan, according to the filings.

One example involved U.S. Company-1, headquartered in Nebraska, which had a license to lawfully export ammunition to Italian Company-1, but the ammunition could not be reexported out of Italy. Prosecutors said Gruber, using a cutout company, Italian Company-2, reexported U.S. Company-1 ammunition to Sergei Zharnovnikov, an arms dealer from Kyrgyzstan who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate export controls by sending U.S.-made firearms and ammunition to Russia. A contract found on Zharnovnikov’s phone indicated he had contracted with a Russian company for ammunition manufactured by U.S. Company-1, according to the filings.

In another example, U.S. Company-2, headquartered in Tennessee, had a license to lawfully export ammunition to Italian Company-1, but the ammunition could not be reexported out of Italy. Prosecutors said Gruber exported the ammunition from U.S. Company-2 to Italy and then reexported it from Italy to Kyrgyzstan.

Authorities said Gruber knew U.S. law prohibited the reexport of U.S. ammunition without additional licenses, which he did not obtain, and took steps to disguise the true destination of the ammunition. In encrypted messages on or about Sept. 23, 2023, Gruber and an unapprehended co-conspirator discussed shipments and avoiding detection.

The Conversation:

The co-conspirator wrote: “Approximately 100,000 (U.S. Company-1 bullets) What delivery time do we have?”

Gruber replied: “ They give me an answer in a few days… you have to give them everything at once? I ask because of the possible destination…. They caught the Slovenian (U.S. Company-1) distributor who had triangulated with Russia… FBI International”

The co-conspirator responded: “No, this request is from an Armenian customer. We can even split up the shipment”

Gruber replied: “I’d say that would be better, so it goes unnoticed. ”

In January 2026, Zharnovnikov was sentenced to 39 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Export Control Reform Act.