A member of the National Guard is facing charges for allegedly trying to provide Russia with photographs of sensitive U.S. military technology.

Canyon Anthony Amarys, 28, hailing from Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested on Tuesday. Federal prosecutors allege that Amarys took photographs at a U.S. Army base located in Fort Riley, Kansas, with the intention of sharing these images with an individual he believed to be an agent of Russian intelligence.

Prosecutors further claim that Amarys consented to procure and send a helicopter radio intended for use by the Russian military. He has been indicted for attempting to breach the Export Control Reform Act and appeared in court for the first time in the District of Kansas on Thursday.

Canyon Anthony Amarys, 28, from Alamogordo, New Mexico, was taken into custody on October 28, 2025, and charged with attempting to violate the Export Control Reform Act. (Wyandotte County Detention Center)

The indictment reveals that Amarys met with an undercover operative, whom he thought was a Russian intelligence officer, at a hotel in Overland Park, Kansas, this past February. During this meeting, he reportedly signed a one-page document, establishing a “covert relationship” with a Russian intelligence entity.

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.

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)

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.