A U.S. federal judge has sentenced Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges for selling weapons.

Bout, who prosecutors call a “merchant of death,” shouted during the sentencing hearing that charges against him were a lie.

He again asserted that he never intended to kill anyone and called himself a legitimate businessman.

But federal prosecutors said Bout's weapons sales helped inflame wars in Africa. They say he was planning to sell surface-to-air missiles to Colombian rebels to shoot down U.S. helicopters.

U.S. agents posing as Colombian rebels arrested him in Thailand in 2008. He was extradited to the United States, tried, and convicted in November.

Bout insisted he was trying to sell cargo planes, not weapons, to the agents.