Former top FBI agent is sentenced to prison for collusion with Russian oligarch

Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A former high-ranking FBI agent was sentenced to more than four years in prison Thursday for colluding with a Russian oligarch.

Charles McGonigal, who was a counterintelligence officer in the bureau's New York field office, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in September and his lawyers had petitioned the court for no prison time because he worked with the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, on counterespionage operations on behalf of the U.S.

"I committed a felony and as a former FBI special agent it causes me extreme emotional and physical pain," McGonigal told the judge before the sentence was imposed. "I stand before you today with a deep sense of remorse."

McGoniga's attorneys petitioned for punishment without a lengthy prison term. "His fall from grace has been precipitous, having lost his job, his reputation and the peace of his family life," defense attorney Seth DuCharme said.

DuCharme and other attorneys asked the judge to consider McGonigal's "extraordinary service" to the country during his 22-year career in law enforcement and counterintelligence before imposing a sentence.

Judge Jennifer Rearden, however, did not treat McGonigal lightly, and while she acknowledged his "extraordinary contributions" to counterespionage operations on the country's behalf, she mentioned the "extraordinary seriousness" of his choice to work for Deripaska, whom the U.S. sanctioned for enabling Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"Mr. McGonigal well knew his actions violated those sanctions," Rearden said before imposing the 50-month sentence.

Federal prosecutors had requested a five-year prison sentence after accusing McGonigal of abusing the skills and influence his country entrusted him with by secretly working with Deripaska.

"McGonigal knew full well that Deripaska was sanctioned," prosecutors said in their sentencing documents. "McGonigal also cannot claim that he was unaware that he was selling his services to a scoundrel working against America's interests."

McGonigal has been ordered to surrender to authorities for his prison sentence beginning Feb. 26.

McGonigal was the special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division in the FBI's New York field office. He supervised and participated in investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska, to whom he provided "impermissible" services.

Prosecutors called McGonigal's actions a serious crime that deserved a serious punishment.