The work prisoners are subjected to in the United States includes federally-contracted production of parts for Tomahawk cruise missiles, Viktor Bout, a Russian national currently serving a 25-year sentence in the US, told a Sputnik correspondent who visited him in prison
MARION (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) The work prisoners are subjected to in the United States includes federally-contracted production of parts for Tomahawk cruise missiles, Viktor Bout, a Russian national currently serving a 25-year sentence in the US, told a Sputnik correspondent who visited him in prison.
Bout was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008, and extradited to the United States in 2010 on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and kill US nationals. He is currently at the Marion prison in Illinois.
"To keep oneself busy in prison, one might work. The majority of prisoners in Marion work in the production of parts for the 'Tomahawk' cruise missiles � several sweatshops of the plant that produces these missiles are located here. Maybe this is why they [the missiles] only work half the time," Bout said jokingly.
The Russian prisoner further stated that the skills acquired to do this work would not help fellow prisoners get a job after their release, even at the main production plant, since their criminal records would continue to follow them.
"It is so funny sometimes: a person is here for 5-7 years, works in one of the sweatshops, becomes high-skilled in what they do, and then leaves after the term is over. Finding employment in this area is not easy; the only employers are conservation areas and two Federal prisons. But there also is the mother plant that produces missile parts � familiar work in which they [released prisoners] got to be extremely skilled. So they go to this plant and are being told 'Sorry, we cannot hire you with a criminal history,'" Bout explained.
Bout was arrested at Washington's request over a suspected intention to kill US citizens and sell weapons to people who he allegedly knew were members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a designated terrorist group in the US. Bout has denied all accusations. In 2009, a Thai court ruled in his favor, saying the case was of a political rather than criminal nature, but a higher court later decided to extradite him to the US. In New York, he was sentenced to the minimum term established for his crimes.
