Bangkok , Thailand ( CNN ) -- A Thai appeals court ruled Friday that suspected international arms dealer Viktor Bout can be extradited to the United States . The court ruled that the extradition process must be completed within three months , otherwise Bout will be released . Bout was shackled in chains during Friday 's hearing . His wife and daughter were also in the courtroom . After the ruling , they stood up and cried . Bout has been indicted by U.S. federal authorities on a series of charges , including counts of illegally purchasing U.S. cargo planes to ferry weapons to warring parties and regimes in Africa and the Middle East . In February , a federal indictment charged Bout and an alleged co-conspirator with the illegal purchase of a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 737 , money laundering and wire fraud . Thai courts had previously balked at extraditing Bout to the United States on the basis of the original charges against him , which centered on his alleged efforts to send millions of dollars worth of weapons to arm guerrilla fighters in Colombia . Bout was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 after a dramatic sting operation led by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency , posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC ) . Widely regarded as a prolific arms dealer , Bout , has been in Thai custody since . Bout has repeatedly said he has not broken any laws and the allegations against him are lies . He is accused of supplying weapons to war zones around the world -- from Sierra Leone to Afghanistan . The United States charged Bout in 2008 with agreeing to sell surface-to-air missiles , armor-piercing rocket launchers , `` ultralight '' airplanes , unmanned aerial vehicles , and other weapons to FARC . Justice Department officials have sought his extradition since then . Federal authorities accused Bout of four terrorism offenses : conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals , conspiracy to kill U.S. officers or employees , conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile , and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization , the designation given to FARC by the U.S. State Department . A former Soviet air force officer who speaks six languages , Bout allegedly began building his arms business as the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s . He acquired surplus Soviet planes and , according to the U.S. Treasury Department , started shipping arms and ammunition to various conflict zones . It is widely believed that he inspired the character of Yuri Orlov , the arms dealer played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 film `` Lord of War . '' Journalist James Hookway contributed to this report .
Viktor Bout is charged with conspiracy to sell weapons to guerrilla fighters , money laundering and wire fraud . He has been in custody in Thailand since 2008 . The court has ruled that he will be released if he is not extradited within three months .