National Guardsman accused of seeking to send photos of sensitive military technology to Russia

A National Guardsman has been charged with attempting to send photos of sensitive U.S. military technology to Russia.

Canyon Anthony Amarys, 28, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested Tuesday and is accused of photographing a U.S. Army installation at Fort Riley, Kansas, and trying to share the images with someone he believed was a Russian intelligence officer, according to federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Amarys also agreed to obtain and send a helicopter radio for use by the Russian military. He was indicted for attempting to violate the Export Control Reform Act and made his initial court appearance on Thursday in the District of Kansas.

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Canyon Anthony Amarys, 28, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested on Oct. 28, 2025, and charged with attempting to violate the Export Control Reform Act. (Wyandotte County Detention Center)

According to the indictment, Amarys met with an undercover employee (UCE) he believed was a Russian intelligence agent in February at a hotel in Overland Park in Kansas and signed a one-page agreement confirming a "covert relationship" with a Russian intelligence service.

The UCE gave him thousands of dollars in cash to purchase a Garmin GTR-205 helicopter radio and to photograph a Fort Riley installation.

Soon after the meeting, Amarys allegedly went to Fort Riley and took photographs of what he believed was sensitive U.S. equipment. The FBI said the photography was recorded and observed as part of its undercover operation.

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Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters parked on the tarmac at Fort Riley, Kansas.  (iStock)

In March, Amarys allegedly bought the radio, packaged it and took it to a USPS facility in Junction City, Kansas, with the intention of mailing it to Romania, which investigators say would have served as a cover destination for illegal diversion to Russia.

Before shipping, Amarys confirmed in a recorded conversation that he understood the radio would be illegally diverted to Russia and acknowledged he had researched export regulations prior to his February meeting, prosecutors said.

National Guard soldiers walking in uniform on a city street. (Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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Investigators later intercepted the parcel and seized the radio before it left the United States.

Amarys faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million if convicted.