A former Melbourne cleaner found guilty of being the financial brains behind infamous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has asked a New York judge to overturn his conviction.
A jury in a Manhattan court in December found Richard Chichakli, 54, guilty of conspiring with the so-called Merchant of Death and others to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Chichakli, who faces more than 20 years' jail when he is sentenced next month, was also found guilty of money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and several counts of wire fraud.
"This court should grant the defendant a judgment of acquittal or a new trial," his lawyer, Marlon Kirton wrote in a post-trial motion to US District Court Judge William H. Pauley III.
Chichakli and his lawyer argue there was insufficient evidence during the trial to convict.
They also believe their wish for a two-week delay of the trial should have been granted "because of Mr Chichakli's physical condition and his lack of preparedness".
Chichakli, who represented himself at the trial, was denied access in November to a laptop computer with two terabytes of material while being housed in a segregated section in New York's Metropolitan Detention Center, they argued.
Syrian-born Chichakli, who was Bout's financial manager, disappeared from the US seven years ago after a SWAT team raided his Texas home.
He was working as a cleaner in Melbourne in January under the alias Jehad Almustafa when he decided to apply for a job as an armed guard with Victoria Police.
His identity was exposed when he submitted a fingerprint check.
Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence, sold or brokered deals for weapons that helped fuel conflicts and support regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
Bout's story inspired the 2005 movie Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage.
