Army lieutenant colonel charged with smuggling firearm parts from Russia, other countries

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel has been arrested on charges that he illegally imported firearms parts from foreign countries including Russia and dealt weapons without a license. The U.S. attorney’s office in Nashville says 40-year-old Frank Ross Talbert has been indicted on 21 charges including importing defense articles without a license and smuggling firearms parts into the U.S. Talbert is a lieutenant colonel with U.S. Army Explosives Ordinance Disposal at Fort Campbell. He was arrested Thursday. Talbert pleaded not guilty during a Thursday hearing in federal court in Nashville. Authorities say the imported parts came from Russia, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.