He probably never expected to end up in an American courtroom, and when he did he plead not guilty.

Viktor Bout, a 43 year old former Russian military officer, dubbed “The Merchant of Death,” has been brought to the United States to face justice. He is accused of being one of the top global arms merchants, who is charged with “conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to a terrorist organization for use in trying to kill Americans,” according to the federal complaint against him.

Bout was nabbed in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting that reads like an action movie, with agents globetrotting across continents, posing as representaives of the Columbian narco-terrorist organization, FARC. The weapons were supposedly going to be used to shoot down American planes engaged in operations against the group.

“The so called ‘Merchant of Death’ is now a federal inmate,” announced U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. He listed some of the weapons, which he said would be the envy of a small country, that Bout allegedly was ready to provide for millions of dollars.

The arsenel allegedly included:700 surface to air missiles, 5,000 AK-47 assault rifiles, anti-personel mines, C-4 explosives, millions of rounds of ammunition, ultra-light airplanes that could launch grenades or missiles and two cargo planes. “Many believe Bout did not care who his weapons killed,” said Tom Harrigan of the Drug Enforcement Agency “but he did care. Based on recorded conversations, Bout said he preferred murdering Americans.”

The website Victorbout.com which describes itself as his official site has postings which describe  the stories about Bout as “fantasy” and “illusion” and claims he is a businessman who ran a cargo airline.”People were more interested in mysterious scandals rather than naked truth,” it says, adding that, “Bout is not and never was an arms dealer.” Also on the site, Bout is described as a “dynamic, charismatic, spontaneous, well-dressed, well-spoken and highly energetic person,” who is “a born salesman with undying love for aviation and the eternal drive to succeed.”