Sasa Micev

Convicted and sentenced. Micev pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the North Korean Sanctions Regulations and was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.

Introduction

Sasa Micev, 43, a Bosnian citizen and international arms dealer, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal export and sanctions violations for conspiring and attempting to broker the sale of North Korean anti-aircraft missiles in violation of U.S. sanctions . The sentence, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico on October 14, 2026, concluded a case built around Micev’s efforts in 2020 to broker the purchase of SA-18 Igla man-portable air-defense systems from North Korea without any license or approval from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control . First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison framed the sentence as a message to sanctions evaders: “U.S. sanctions mean little if those who knowingly evade them face no consequences” .

Background Information

According to court documents, Micev worked with a co-conspirator based in New Mexico, and together with others they violated and evaded restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the North Korea Sanctions Regulations . The merchandise at the center of the scheme was the SA-18 Igla, a man-portable air-defense system — shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles whose sale from sanctioned North Korea to any unlicensed buyer is prohibited by both U.S. and international law . On multiple occasions in 2020, Micev and his co-conspirator discussed unlawfully acquiring the Igla missiles, with Micev providing pricing information, participating in efforts to obtain the items through falsified documentation, and working to procure the weapons from North Korea despite knowing the transactions were prohibited .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

In late 2020, Micev and the co-conspirator traveled to Ankara, Turkey, to meet and complete the sale of the Igla missiles . The deal collapsed not through interdiction but through commerce: after a price dispute with the North Koreans, the sale fell through . The attempted brokerage was still enough to sustain the conspiracy and attempt charges, because the offense lies in the knowing effort to evade U.S. sanctions — the pricing, the falsified documentation, and the trip to complete the transaction — rather than in whether a missile changed hands . Micev pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the North Korean Sanctions Regulations and received the 60-month sentence .

Public Reaction and Consequences

“This defendant helped carry out an international scheme to conduct business that U.S. law prohibited,” Ellison said, “and this sentence holds him accountable for his role,” crediting the investigators whose work brought the case to sentencing in New Mexico . Acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan G. McRae of Homeland Security Investigations El Paso said those who knowingly attempt to circumvent U.S. export controls “pose a serious threat to our national security and global stability,” adding that their willingness to profit from prohibited weapons transactions “demonstrates blatant disregard for the law” . HSI’s Albuquerque and Phoenix field offices investigated, with prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tavo Hall and Holland Kastrin and National Security Division Trial Attorney Maria Fedor of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section .

Current Status

Micev, 43, is serving his five-year federal sentence, the product of a guilty plea rather than a trial . As a non-citizen convicted of a national-security offense, he faces the immigration consequences that follow, though the release does not address post-sentence removal . The case closed roughly six years after the failed Ankara meeting at its center .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Micev’s prosecution shows the long reach of the North Korea sanctions regime: a Bosnian broker, working with a New Mexico co-conspirator, imprisoned in the United States five years after a missile deal that never closed. For the international arms-brokerage world, the case demonstrates that the U.S. claims jurisdiction over brokerage conduct aimed at its financial system and partners — pricing quotes, falsified paperwork, and face-to-face completion meetings all count as acts in the conspiracy even when the weapons never move.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico, “Bosnian National Sentenced for Violating International Sanctions Against North Korea,” October 14, 2026 — source