Former Buffalo Grove businessman charged in gun export scheme to Ukraine

The former owner of a Buffalo Grove-based drilling equipment distributorship is charged with illegally exporting various gun parts to Ukraine over a three-year span.

Glenn Stepul, 33, formerly of Wheeling and now a resident of Florida, has pleaded not guilty to a bevy of charges stemming from the export scheme, according to court records.

Federal prosecutors say that between 2014 and 2016 Stepul exported pistol slides and stainless steel gun barrels from the United States to Ukraine without obtaining proper authorization from the U.S. State Department in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. He and a Ukrainian co-conspirator are also accused of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by exporting and attempting to export rifle scopes and night-vision cameras to Ukraine.

Prosecutors said Stepul concealed the export-controlled items in drilling equipment sent to Ukraine by falsely claiming on customs forms that the items inside were household goods, cosmetics, toys, stationery or cassettes, according to court records.

In addition to the charges related to violating the federal export acts, Stepul is charged with smuggling and making false statements to investigators.

Stepul pleaded not guilty to all charges during his arraignment Thursday before U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey in Chicago.

His next court date is slated for Dec. 16.