Russian ‘agent’ gets 18 months
Maria Butina called a ‘political prisoner’ by Moscow’s embassy
WASHINGTON — In a quivering voice, Maria Butina begged for leniency Friday as she awaited sentencing on charges of being a secret agent for Russia.
She cast herself as an innocent caught up in a massive geopolitical power game.
But a federal judge sentenced her to 18 months in prison followed by deportation.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sided with prosecutors, who said the 30-year-old Russian deliberately obscured her true purposes while developing backdoor contacts inside the American conservative movement to advance the interests of Russia.
The sentence can be appealed and Butina will get credit for her time in jail since her high-profile arrest in July 2018.
The case garnered intense media coverage amid speculation over the extent of Russian interference in American politics.
Butina admitted last year to covertly gathering intelligence on the National Rifle Association and other groups at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker.
Her guilty plea to a single charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent came as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Butina appealed to Chutkan to release her with nine months of time served.
“My reputation is ruined, both here in the United States and abroad,” she said, asking for “a chance to go home and restart my life.”
Chutkan, however, fully followed the government’s recommendation and sentenced Butina to an additional nine months, before being deported.
The judge said the sentence was meant “to reflect the seriousness of (Butina’s actions) and to promote deterrence.”
Butina’s lawyers decried the judgment as overly harsh; they had characterized Butina as a naive but ambitious international affairs student who didn’t realize her actions required her to register as an agent.
“I feel terrible for Maria’s family ... I wish we could have done more to get her out sooner,” said attorney Robert Driscoll. “I do not believe an additional nine months in jail serves any purpose.”
The Russian Embassy in Washington said in a Facebook post that Butina “is a political prisoner, a victim of provocations by special services and the arbitrary use of repressive U.S. legislation ... We demand her immediate release.”
Leonid Slutsky, chair of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of the Russian parliament, said the case was “political and fabricated from air poisoned with Russophobia.”
“It is necessary to continue the fight, to file an appeal and to do everything in our power for Maria Butina to return to Russia as soon as possible,” Slutsky was quoted as saying.