New York ( CNN ) -- Convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout could face life in prison after a federal jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday on four counts related to a conspiracy to kill Americans , acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and provide material support to a terrorist organization . Bout 's attorney , Albert Dayan , said the verdict will be appealed . `` I still stand by my position that Viktor was wrongfully accused , '' said Dayan . `` The jury has spoken but his position is still that he 's innocent . '' Widely dubbed `` the Merchant of Death , '' Bout was often referred to by U.S. and United Nations officials as among the most notorious of global arms traffickers . He had pleaded not guilty to all the charges . Dayan said during the trial that the former Soviet air force officer was not involved in illegal arms sales , and that federal agents had baited Bout into selling the weapons alongside a deal to sell airplanes . But Preet Bharara , the U.S. attorney for Manhattan , called the Russian tycoon `` a very dangerous man '' in a statement Wednesday . `` He aimed to sell those weapons to terrorists for the purpose of killing Americans . '' Commentary : Three chilling moments from the trial . The heart of the case stemmed from a 2008 sting operation in Thailand by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency . Undercover agents posing as Colombian rebels attempted to buy larges caches of weapons , according to a 2008 federal indictment . Both the United States and the European Union identify the rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , or FARC -- as a terrorist organization . The agents tried to purchase 700 to 800 surface-to-air missiles , thousands of AK-47s and landmines , telling Bout that they wanted the arms `` to kill Americans , '' the indictment said . Bout responded , it said , by saying he `` was going to prepare everything the FARC needed . '' During closing arguments Tuesday , Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McGuire called the evidence against Bout `` overwhelming , '' pointing to alleged ties with various armed conflicts . `` He did everything he could to show that he could be a one-stop shop '' for FARC , said McGuire . Prior to his arrest , the DEA had struggled to draw Bout out of his Russian homeland , which is long thought to have sheltered and defended him . Undercover agents met with Bout 's associates the world over , from Curacao to Copenhagen , in an attempt to set up a meeting with their target , according to the indictment . He was extradited to the United States in 2010 following his arrest and a protracted court proceeding in Thailand . The Russian businessman has also been accused of assembling a fleet of cargo planes to traffic military-grade weapons to conflict zones around the world since the 1990s . According to the indictment , he was suspected of creating front companies that used his planes to deliver food and medical supplies , as well as arms . His alleged trafficking activities in Liberia prompted U.S. authorities to freeze his American assets in 2004 and prohibited U.S. transactions with him , it said . Less than a year later , the Treasury Department 's Office of Foreign Assets Control placed 30 companies and four people on a specially designated list that carried similar actions against them . Bout has maintained that he operated legitimate businesses and had acted as a mere logistics provider . His exact age is unclear , but he is believed to be in his late 40s or 50s , with his age in dispute due to different passports and documents . The U.S. attorney 's office said it had no confirmed age . Critics have accused Bout of providing arms to rebels in several countries and fueling bloody conflicts in places such as Liberia and Sierra Leone . In 2000 , then-British Foreign Office Peter Hain branded him `` Africa 's chief merchant of death '' at a time when Bout is believed to have supplied arms to officials in Sierra Leone , a former British colony then embroiled in civil war . The 2005 movie `` Lord of War , '' starring Nicolas Cage , is considered to be largely inspired by Bout 's life .
Bout is found guilty on all four counts ; he cannot appeal . The assistant district attorney called the case against Bout ` ` overwhelming '' Bout 's attorney says his client was unfairly charged . Bout is convicted of conspiracy to sell cocaine to U.S. agents posing as Colombian ##s .