Former top FBI official Charles McGonigal broke down in tears Thursday as he was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring with a Russian oligarch to evade US sanctions.
McGonigal, 55, was ordered to surrender on February 26, 2024, serve three years of supervised release following his time in prison, and was fined $40,000.
After she left court, McGonigal told the audience, “Happy holidays.”
McGonigal, who headed the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, pleaded guilty to the charges in August.
“[McGonigal] knowing full well that his actions violated those restrictions,” Manhattan federal judge Jennifer Readden said during the sentencing.
“In the face of that knowledge, Mr. McGonigal went ahead,” he added, calling it a “significant risk to national security.”
Ironically, before being implicated in his Russia-related wrongdoing, McGonigal helped the bureau investigate former President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Moscow.
The disgraced former FBI official was charged with one count of conspiracy to launder money and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Charles McGonigal pleaded guilty to one charge in August. Reuters
“In taking responsibility for my actions and reflecting on my situation, I realize the pain and disappointment I have brought upon myself, my family,” McGonigal said during an emotional apology.
He described the consequences of his actions as “painful” and recounted the impact it had on him and his family.
McGonigal pleaded with the judge for leniency, explaining that he had sought counseling and that he was “ashamed” to have committed a crime as a former officer in the FBI, which he said he “loved”.[s] and respect[s].”
Assistant US Attorney Hagan Scotten ripped McGonigal’s actions as “treason” against the country, saying the former G-man “didn’t want to set up a restaurant or a second career in IT.”
“He wants to turn his credentials into cash.”
Charles McGonigal was one of the first FBI agents to learn of the 2016 Trump campaign allegations of dirt on Hillary Clinton, sparking a lengthy investigation. Reuters
McGonigal, who sat hunched over the defense table with her hands clasped during Thursday’s hearing, had sought to remove Russian billionaire and business magnate Oleg Deripaska from the US sanctions list around 2021, prosecutors alleged.
Defense attorney Seth Ducharme argued that McGonigal’s 22 years with the FBI should have had some appeal to minimize his sentence.
“His work should count for something,” Ducharme argued.
Deripaska, once considered Russia’s richest man, made his fortune from state-owned assets that were privatized after the fall of the Soviet Union.
After his departure from the FBI in 2019, McGonigal was hired by a law firm that opposed Deripaska’s sanctions.
During his guilty plea, McGonigal admitted to pocketing about $17,500 to help Deripaska dig up dirt on a rival oligarch.
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska was once considered the richest man in Russia. AFP via Getty Images
The money was funneled from a Russian bank headquartered in Cyprus to a New Jersey firm owned by one of McGonigal’s friends before being rolled up in his bank account.
Prosecutors tried to dismiss McGonigal as motivated by greed, noting that at the time she worked for Deripaska, she had about $850,000 in joint earnings as well as a Manhattan apartment and a Mercedes.
“He’s far, far better than most of the citizens he’s sworn to protect in the FBI,” Scotten said.
Given his history as a special agent in charge of the bureau, McGonigal was required to disclose his contacts with foreign officials, but instead concealed them, according to prosecutors.
While in that role at the FBI, McGonigal received classified briefings indicating Deripaska would be subject to sanctions, the indictment against him said.
“Once [McGonigal] leaving public service, he compromised our national security by providing services to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian tycoon who acted as an agent of Vladimir Putin,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
“Today’s sentence is a reminder that anyone who violates United States sanctions – especially those trusted by this country – will pay a heavy penalty.”
New York FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge James Smith denounced what he called McGonigal’s “fraud and deception to satisfy his own greed”.
“The FBI is determined to ensure that any individual who commits a federal crime – even a former FBI Special Agent in Charge – is held accountable to face the consequences,” Smith said.
McGonigal initially pleaded not guilty to the four charges against him before striking a deal with prosecutors.
Separately, McGonigal was indicted by DC prosecutors for allegedly concealing the receipt of $225,000 from a former member of the Albanian intelligence service.
In that case, he was also accused of attending secret meetings with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama while at the FBI.
He pleaded guilty to one count of concealing material in the case in September, with sentencing to be carried out in February.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
