In the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie “Lord of War,” the character loosely based on Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout evades his American law enforcement pursuers, apparently saved by the CIA.

But in real life, the U.S. government set up an elaborate operation in 2008 to capture and prosecute Bout, dubbed “the Merchant of Death,” because he was said to be one of the world’s largest illicit arms dealers.

Now he is on his way back to Russia after a high-profile prisoner exchange that saw WNBA star Brittney Griner free early Thursday.

The long-rumored exchange had sparked a debate over whether the U.S. should give in to blackmail, given the disparity between the case of Bout, who was lawfully convicted of serious crimes, and Griner, who faced a stacked Russian justice system and was considered by U.S. officials to be a hostage.

“I would take that trade,” said Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, speaking in July long before the prisoner swap.

Under federal sentencing rules, Bout could have been released from prison in five years.

Bout, 55, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in 2012 after he was convicted of selling arms to Colombian rebels, which prosecutors said were intended to kill Americans. The Russian government had been demanding his release ever since, saying he was unfairly targeted.