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Marina Butina, Suspected Russian Spy, Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

Maria Butina pleads guilty to conspiring to act as a Russian agent

Marina Butina, a 30-year-old Russian guns rights activist, plead guilty Thursday morning to one count of conspiracy, signing a plea agreement with the U.S. government after months of claiming to be innocent.

Butina admitted to conspiring to infiltrate several influential Republican groups, including the National Rifle Association, with the goal of pushing Moscow's agenda. As part of the plea deal, Butina also agreed to cooperate with federal, state, and local authorities in any ongoing investigations. 

The 30-year-old former graduate student has been held without bail ever since she was arrested earlier this year in Washington D.C. on charges of conspiracy and failure to register as a foreign agent. As a non-citizen who had been in the United States on a student visa, Butina still faces deportation following any possible prison sentence. The felony charge carries a five-year term, but the estimated sentencing guidelines range from zero to six months in prison. 

"The decision on whether to deport you is not one that this court will make," Judge Tanya Chutkan told Butina in court. 

Court documents say Butina admitted to working with her boyfriend, Republican operative Paul Erickson - identified as "U.S. Person 1" - to help "establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics ... for the benefit of the Russian Federation.

Prosecutors have so far declined to charge Erickson with any crimes. 

Butina admitted to working on behalf of a Russian official who fits the description of Alexander Torshin, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia. 

Charges were filed against Butina by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C., unrelated to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. 

Court documents also say Butina helped organize a trip by NRA members to visit Moscow in December 2015, where she set up a meeting between supporters of the gun group and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

According to prosecutors, during the meeting, Butina wrote in a message that "We should let them express their gratitude now, we will put pressure on them quietly later." 

Torshin also directed Butina to organize a Russian delegation to the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. and host several influential people at "friendship dinners" court documents say. The gatherings were organized to "cultivate lines of communications with individuals she believed would have the ear of the next U.S. presidential administration." 

"At these dinners, Butina was able to meet individuals with political capital, learn their thoughts and inclinations toward Russia, gauge their responses to her, and adjust her pitch accordingly," the plea agreement says. 



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