Current:Home > reviewsEx-FBI counterintelligence official gets over 4 years in prison for aiding Russian oligarch -ValueCore
Ex-FBI counterintelligence official gets over 4 years in prison for aiding Russian oligarch
View
Date:2025-04-13 13:27:57
NEW YORK (AP) — A former top FBI counterintelligence official was ordered Thursday to spend over four years in prison for violating sanctions on Russia by going to work for a Russian oligarch seeking dirt on a wealthy rival after he finished his government career.
Charles McGonigal was sentenced to four years and two months in prison in Manhattan federal court by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who said McGonigal harmed national security by repeatedly flouting sanctions meant to put economic pressure on Russia to get results without military force. He was also fined $40,000.
She imposed the sentence after a prosecutor cast McGonigal’s crime as a greedy money-grab that leveraged the knowledge he gained in his FBI career to cozy up to a notorious Russian oligarch, billionaire industrialist Oleg Deripaska.
Deripaska has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 for reasons related to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
Given a chance to speak, McGonigal told the judge in a voice that sometimes got shaky that he had a “deep sense of remorse and am sorry for my actions.”
“I recognize more than ever that I’ve betrayed the confidence and trust of those close to me,” he said. “For the rest of my life, I will be fighting to regain that trust.”
During his August plea to a single count of conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Deripaska told the judge he accepted over $17,000 to help Deripaska collect derogatory information about another Russian oligarch who was a business competitor.
Prosecutors say McGonigal was also trying to help Deripaska get off the sanctions list and was in negotiations along with co-conspirators to receive a fee of $650,000 to $3 million to hunt for electronic files revealing hidden assets of $500 million belonging to the oligarch’s business rival.
McGonigal, who lives in New York, was separately charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., with concealing at least $225,000 in cash he allegedly received from a former Albanian intelligence official while working for the FBI. He faces sentencing in that case on Feb. 16. Rearden ordered him to report to prison Feb. 26.
McGonigal was special agent in charge of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018. He supervised investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has affirmed the sanctions against Deripaska, finding there was evidence he had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
veryGood! (168)
Related
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- Orange County judge who says wife's shooting was accidental to be tried on murder charge
- Abortion access has won when it’s been on the ballot. That’s not an option for half the states
- Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's Daughter Suri Celebrates High School Graduation With Mom
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Horoscopes Today, June 21, 2024
- The surprising inspiration behind Tom Hardy's 'Bikeriders' voice
- Here’s a look at Trump’s VP shortlist and why each contender may get picked or fall short
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Amazon to stop using plastic air pillows in packages
Ranking
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Princess Anne Hospitalized With Concussion After Incident at Her Estate
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, June 23, 2024
- Husband of bride killed in alleged DUI crash on wedding night to receive nearly $1M in settlement
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- NHRA legend John Force taken to hospital after funny car engine explodes
- Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis Privately Welcomed Their Third Baby Together
- Auto dealer system updates to take 'several days' following CDK hack, ransom demand
Recommendation
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
Watch as hero North Carolina dad saves toddler daughter from drowning in family pool
Princess Anne Hospitalized With Concussion After Incident at Her Estate
Wild Thang wins world's ugliest dog contest in Petaluma
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
The Texas Rangers are frustrating LGBTQ+ advocates as the only MLB team without a Pride Night
Hawaii lifeguard dies in shark attack while surfing off Oahu
The surprising inspiration behind Tom Hardy's 'Bikeriders' voice