A former FBI agent has been sentenced for helping a Russian oligarch.
Mr. Charles McGonigal was sentenced to four years in prison for helping a Russian oligarch spy on a rival, something he confessed to doing in August.
Highest Ranking FBI Officer To Be Charged
Mr McGonigal is the highest-ranking FBI officer charged with such a crime.
McGonigal was tasked with investigating Russian oligarchs while overseeing the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York.
Prosecutors said the accused violated international sanctions for working with Russian billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
McGonigal Regrets What He Did
McGonigal took full responsibility for his actions that violated his country’s prestige.
“I committed a felony and as a former FBI special agent it causes me extreme emotional and physical pain,” he said.
The BBC reported that prosecutors had asked for five years in prison, but it was reduced to four years.