Army officer pleads guilty to 17 charges in firearms parts smuggling case

A U.S. Army lieutenant colonel pleaded guilty Monday to importing AK-style firearms parts from foreign countries, including Russia, without a license.

Frank Ross Talbert, most recently with the Army’s Explosives Ordinance Disposal at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was indicted on 21 charges in 2024 after federal agents searched his home and found firearms made from illegally imported parts.

As part of a plea agreement filed with the U.S. District Court, Talbert pleaded guilty to 17 of the charges, including smuggling, possessing an unregistered machine gun and numerous violations of the Arms Export Control Act.

From 2019 to 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol intercepted 16 of the approximately 350 foreign shipments made to Talbert, all of which were suspected to contain firearms or firearm parts, the plea agreement says. In the intercepted packages, CBP agents discovered illegally imported pistol grips, hand guards, buttstocks, sights, muzzle devices, gas tubes and inert rifle grenades, among other parts.

Over the years, Talbert used variations of his name and his wife’s name for the shipments, as well as different locations, in an effort to avoid detection by CBP, according to the plea agreement.

The shipments were made when Talbert was stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York, where he served as an improvised explosive device threat mitigation advisor to the United Nations.

Talbert’s shipments continued while he was stationed at Fort Campbell and residing in Clarksville, Tennessee.

After the seizures by CBP, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Talbert’s Clarksville home in 2023 and found five firearms made from illegally imported parts, court documents say. They also discovered shipping boxes containing illegally imported equipment from various countries, including Russia, and a work station with “large amounts of shipping supplies indicative of being engaged in the business of dealing without a Federal Firearms License.”

Authorities learned Talbert had a “significant presence” on online forums where members could sell, purchase and discuss firearms.

“Defendant is a high-ranking career member of the military with a sophisticated knowledge of guns,” the plea agreement reads. “His text messages and postings on gun websites indicate defendant understood what he was importing.”

According to the agreement, prosecutors will move to dismiss the remaining four charges against Talbert, which included firearms trafficking, transporting prohibited weapons without a license, dealing in firearms without a license and another charge of possessing an unregistered machine gun.

Talbert’s sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 10.