Default

Ex-FBI official Charles McGonigal gets 50 months for Russia oligarch work

[ad_1]

Former high-ranking FBI official Charles McGonigal broke down in tears Thursday as he was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for colluding with a Russian oligarch to evade US sanctions.

McGonigal, 55, was ordered to surrender by Feb. 26, 2024, made to serve three years of supervised release following his time behind bars, and was fined $40,000.

McGonigal, who helmed the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, pleaded guilty to the charge back in August.

“[McGonigal] well knew his actions violated those sanctions,” Manhattan federal judge Jennifer Rearden said while handing down the sentencing.

“In the face of that knowledge, Mr. McGonigal forged ahead,” she added, calling it a “great risk to national security.”

Ironically, prior to getting ensnared in his own Russia-related misconduct, McGonigal helped the bureau investigate former President Donald Trump’s purported ties to Moscow.

Charles McGonigal pleaded to one count back in August. REUTERS

The disgraced former FBI bigwig copped to a single count of conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carried a maximum of five years in prison.

“In taking responsibility for my actions and reflecting on my situation, I recognize the pain and disappointment I have brought on myself, my family,” McGonigal said during an emotional apology.

He described the ramifications for his deeds as “painful” and recounted the toll it exacted on both him and his family.

McGonigal pleaded to the judge for leniency, explaining that he had sought counseling and that he was “embarrassed” to have committed a felony as a former official at the FBI, which he said he “love[s] and respect[s].”

Assistant US Attorney Hagan Scotten ripped McGonigal’s actions as a “betrayal” to the nation, saying the ex-G-man “was not looking to set up a restaurant or a second career in IT.”

“He was looking to turn his credentials into cash.”

Charles McGonigal was one of the first FBI agents learn of accusations the 2016 Trump campaign claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton​, which set off a lengthy investigation. REUTERS

McGonigal, who sat hunched over the defense table with his hands clasped together during Thursday’s hearing, had sought to get Russian billionaire and business magnate Oleg Deripaska off the US sanctions list around 2021, prosecutors alleged.

Defense attorney Seth Ducharme contended that McGonigal’s 22 years with the FBI should have some pull to minimize his sentencing.

“His work should count for something,” Ducharme argued.

Deripaska, who was once regarded as the richest man in Russia, made a fortune off state-owned assets that were privatized after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Following his departure from the FBI in 2019, McGonigal was hired by a law firm fighting Deripaska’s sanctions.

During his guilty plea, McGonigal fessed up to raking in some $17,500 assisting Deripaska in digging up dirt on a rival oligarch.

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska was once considered to be the richest man in Russia. AFP via Getty Images

That money was wired from a Russian bank headquartered in Cyprus to a firm in New Jersey owned by one of McGonigal’s buddies before winding up in his bank account.

Prosecutors tried to cast McGonigal as motivated by greed, noting that around the time he worked for Deripaska, he had some $850,000 in joint income as well as a Manhattan apartment and Mercedes.

“He was far, far better off than most of the citizens he swore to protect in the FBI,” Scotten said.

Given his history as special-agent-in-charge at the bureau, McGonigal was required to divulge his contacts with foreign officials, but concealed them instead, 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.

Initially, McGonigal pleaded not guilty to four counts against him before cutting a deal with prosecutors.

Separately, McGonigal was indicted by DC prosecutors for allegedly concealing the receipt of $225,000 from a former member of Albania’s intelligence service.

In that case, he also was accused of attending a secret meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama while at the FBI.

He entered a guilty plea to a single count of concealment of material in that case back in September, with sentencing to take place in February.

[ad_2]

Source link