Bout is currently appealing his conviction and 25 year sentence for:

• Conspiracy to kill United States nationals, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2332,3238.
• Conspiracy to kill officers and employees of the United States, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1114, 1117, 3238
• Conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2332,3238.
• Harboring/concealing terrorists, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2339B, 3238.

Bout is serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Marion (USP Marion) in Illinois, a maximum security prison. He was put in a CMU (Communications Management Unit) where his phone and mail privileges are extremely limited. He is, however, allowed to e-mail.

In an e-mail last week to the Voice of Russia, he describes life at USP Marion. After expressing his frustration at having limited access to the news and reading materials in a familiar language he writes:

I have been doing a lot of exercises: yoga, Pilates, running, playing volleyball with other inmates. I have been doing a little bit of drawing, listening to good music: classical, classical Indian, Brazilian, Latino and whatever I can find through the Bureau of Prison’s ‘iTunes-ish’ sales program. (BOP began selling MP3 players in August) Songs are sold separately however, and often, you can’t buy just any classical music as some symphonies and movements will not be there. Also, you cannot create playlists, but even so it is a good addition to the grim reality.

He also gave his thoughts on President Obama's re-election. He says as between Obama vs. Romney, it was like Coke vs. Pepsi:

Did you think either one of the candidates was a better choice?

Regarding the U.S. elections, I think it was more of a selection than an election. Honestly, it is more of a choice like ‘Coke or Pepsi.’ Both belong to the same corporative party of Wall Street. Both would stage wars. Both would send more drones to kill more people in foreign lands. Both will blindly support Israeli occupations and both would have to deal with the meltdown of the economy. I believe other candidates like Ron Paul, Jill Stein of the Green Party and other independents, really had more realistic approaches to solve problems.

In 2010, the yearly cost of incarcerating a federal inmate was 28,284. The cost rises yearly, but even at this rate, the U.S. will pay $707,000. to incarcerate Viktor Bout. Here is DOJ's summary of the 2013 budget for the Bureau of Prisons. The 2012 budget was $6.4 billion. For 2013, it's $6.9 billion. At the end of 2011, there were 218,000 federal offenders. By the end of 2013, the number is expected to be 229,000. The budget includes $26 million for 1,000 new beds at contract facilities; $28 million for a new high security prison in Yazoo City, Miss., and , and $27 million for a new medium security prison in Hazleton, W. Va.

Bout is not just being held in a USP, he's in a CMU (Communications Management Unit.) There are two in the U.S., one at Marion and one at Terre Haute. Each holds about 70 inmates. Over 2/3 of them are Muslim, even though the total Muslim federal prison population only 6%. The restrictions on CMU inmates' communications and visits are severe. Even their visits with lawyers are more strictly regulated. While their interactions with each other and their physical movements are not greatly restricted, and they are not in solitary, their every word and movement is monitored. Last year, the U.S. spent $14 million monitoring these inmates.

Guards and cameras watch the CMU inmates' every move. Every word they speak is picked up by a counterterrorism team that eavesdrops from West Virginia. Prison officials budgeted more than $14 million for the snooping operation last year, according to appropriations documents and congressional testimony.

Bout's New York lawyer who tried the case, insists says he has obtained new evidence amounting to "irrefutable proof that Bout was illegally arrested in Thailand and that the U.S. authorities violated the law and obstructed justice when seeking the businessman's extradition." He is sure Viktor Bout's arrest was "a result of bribery and services rendered to the management of a special police unit by U.S. government's members in Thailand." He is trying to raise money in Russia for the appeal and to present his new evidence.

This is another case of manufactured jurisdiction, where there were no valid grounds to charge Bout in the U.S. to begin with.

Please tell you reps in Congress to go tap on Eric Holder's door and tell him Victor should go home. Same for Russian Pilot Konstantin "Yuri" Yaroshenko. Bout is no threat (although he could become one after spending to many years with Islamic militants in the prison's CMU. His lawyer says he's now learning to read Arabic.) this is another costly mistake and waste of resources by the America, Prison Nation. Send Viktor home now. On the same plane with Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was arrested in Liberia because his associates were planning a drug run from South America to Africa, where they'd then send it on to Europe. The DEA trained the informant to repeat a few times that he would be sending his share to the U.S.) For more on the Bout case, here are my prior posts with many more details of the legal side of the story.

At least send him some books from Amazon to read in Portuguese, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Russian and even in English. Or a magazine subscription. You can't send them directly, but they will allow them if mailed by a third party seller like Amazon. Here's his address, and be sure to include the Reg. #.

VIKTOR BOUT Register # 91641-054
USP MARION
U.S. PENITENTIARY
P.O. BOX 1000
MARION, IL 62959

Send Victor home. And send pilot Konstantin "Yuri" Yaroshenko home to Russia with him.