Federal authorities arrested a 28-year-old Army National Guardsman for allegedly attempting to send a military radio to Russia and photograph Fort Riley, Kansas, for who he believed were Russian agents.
Kansas National Guard Spc. Canyon Anthony Amarys first contacted the Russian government in 2024, according to court documents.
On Feb. 27, 2025, he traveled from New Mexico to Overland Park, Kansas, and met with undercover federal agents posing as Russian intelligence service agents. During the meeting, Amarys signed a one-page document that confirmed his relationship with the Russian intelligence service, his indictment says.
The indictment goes on to say Amarys agreed to enter Fort Riley and photograph the installation — home to the Army’s 1st Infantry Division — believing it would benefit the Russian government.
During the same meeting in February, the undercover agents gave Amarys “thousands of dollars in cash” for him to purchase a Garmin GTR-205 radio used in helicopters, the indictment reads. The radio is under export controls and not allowed to be shipped to Russia.
Authorities allege that Amarys purchased the radio in March and mailed it to a post office in Junction City, Kansas, the town closest to Fort Riley. On March 20, he traveled from New Mexico to Kansas, retrieved the package with the undercover agents and shipped it to a mailing address in Romania, believing it would be diverted to Russia.
After shipping the package, Amarys went to Fort Riley and, while being recorded by undercover agents, photographed an installation at Fort Riley that he understood contained sensitive military technology, according to court documents.
He sent those photos to undercover agents the same day.
Authorities arrested Amarys on Oct. 28. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
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