Oleg Sergeyevhich Patsulya, a Russian national, was sentenced Wednesday to 70 months, or nearly six years, in prison for his role in a conspiracy to export controlled aviation technology to Russia and launder money as part of the scheme.
Patsulya, 46, of Miami-Dade County, Florida, pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy to export items from the United States without a license and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. In December 2024, his co-conspirator, Russian national Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin, was sentenced to two years for his role.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza emphasized the seriousness of the crime and Patsulya’s leadership in the operation, saying, “It’s hard to imagine a bigger betrayal of the United States than what you did.”
According to court documents, beginning in May 2022, Patsulya and Besedin conspired to acquire aircraft parts for Russian buyers, including commercial airlines, by purchasing them from U.S. suppliers and unlawfully exporting them to Russia. They admitted to knowing the parts were controlled items requiring a license, which they did not obtain.
The scheme involved multiple shipments of carbon disc brake systems used on Boeing 737 aircraft. Patsulya and Besedin misrepresented the final destination of these items, claiming they were headed for Turkey when they were bound for Russia. U.S. authorities intercepted several of the shipments before export.
To hide the operation, the men used straw buyer-companies and routed funds from Russian clients through Turkish banks to American accounts. Over the course of the conspiracy, more than $4.5 million flowed through Patsulya’s company, MIC P&I LLC.
As part of his sentencing, Patsulya must forfeit assets including a luxury vehicle and personal boat.
The case was investigated by multiple federal agencies and coordinated through the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, an interagency effort to protect critical technologies from misuse by hostile foreign nations.
