Ex-Green Beret charged with espionage to plea

FALLS CHURCH, VA. » A former Army Green Beret charged with espionage activity on behalf of Russia is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges. A plea hearing has been scheduled Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria for Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, of Gainesville, Virginia. Court records do not spell out the specific charge to which he is expected to plead; when he was arrested in August, he was charged under the federal Espionage Act with divulging U.S. military secrets about his unit’s activities in former Soviet republics to Russian intelligence agents. Debbins’ attorney did not return an email Monday seeking comment.

Debbins had a 15-year relationship with Russian intelligence, according to the indictment issued earlier this year.