Who is Tom Pasquarello? Ex-DEA agent says US may have to pay a heavy price for Viktor Bout's prisoner swap
![Who is Tom Pasquarello? Ex-DEA agent says US may have to pay a heavy price for Viktor Bout's prisoner swap](http://dab57h0r8ahff.cloudfront.net/595743/uploads/82173700-7836-11ed-9e80-35206578b335_800_420.png)
WASHINGTON, DC: A former DEA agent believes that the US might have to pay a heavy price for repatriating a notorious Russian arms dealer as part of a prisoner exchange that freed United States basketball star Brittney Griner from prison in Russia. Tom Pasquarello played a pivotal role in bringing former Russian military officer Viktor Bout to justice more than a decade ago. Bout was convicted of illegal arms trafficking in US courts in 2012 and was serving a 25-year prison sentence.
“I’m kind of in disbelief that someone with the potential to orchestrate arms deals that can kill Americans anywhere in the world would be traded for a prisoner,” Tom Pasquarello told Yahoo! Sports just hours after Bout was exchanged for Griner in Abu Dhabi. Bout, 56, who is also known as the "Merchant of Death", sold tens of millions of dollars worth of weapons that were to be used to kill Americans.