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Charles McGonigal is sentenced to over 4 years in prison

2023-12-14 21:52:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Charles McGonigal

A former top FBI agent has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for helping a Russian oligarch seek to be removed from a US sanctions list.

Charles McGonigal, 55, pleaded guilty in August to one count of money laundering conspiracy.

McGonigal is one of the most senior FBI agents ever to be charged with a crime.

He is also accused of concealing $225,000 (£176,000) in payments from an Albanian agent while still working for the FBI.

Before his 50-month sentence was handed down on Thursday, McGonigal expressed remorse for his actions.

"I committed a crime and as a former FBI special agent it causes me extreme emotional and physical pain," he told Judge Jennifer Rearden, according to ABC News. "I stand before you today with a deep sense of remorse."

McGonigal was the special agent in charge of the FBI's counterintelligence division in New York before retiring in 2018. In that role, he was tasked with investigating Russian oligarchs.

Prosecutors say he and former Russian diplomat Sergey Shestakov violated US sanctions by agreeing to provide services to Russian billionaire and industrialist Oleg Deripaska.

The US sanctioned Deripaska in 2018 after accusing him and several other Russian oligarchs and officials of "malicious activity around the globe".

Prosecutors alleged the two men agreed to help Mr Deripaska get his sanctions lifted. They also promised to investigate a rival oligarch, Vladimir Potanin.

McGonigal has also pleaded guilty to separate charges. In that case, he is accused of hiding thousands of dollars in cash from a former Albanian intelligence officer in 2017. McGonigal claimed the money was part of a business loan.

Federal prosecutors say he was asked to report the payment. He is scheduled to be sentenced in that case in Washington, DC in February 2024./ CNA