Posted on 12/15/2023 3:21:34 PM PST by bitt
Former high-ranking FBI official Charles McGonigal started tearing up 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.
After he exited the courthouse, McGonigal told onlookers, “Happy holidays.”
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.
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
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Family name and reputation more valuable than gold.
How about Hunter taking a bribe so Joe exempted an oligarch from sanctions?
From an earlier thread:
...former intelligence official, identified in the Albanian and European media as Agron Neza.
In turn, Neza introduced McGonigal to another well-connected Albanian, Dorian Ducka, who was an adviser to Rama and also worked for CEFC.
A photograph published last month in Albanian media sourced from China Daily in May 2017 shows Ducka standing with CEFC chairman Ye Jianming, who famously gave Hunter a 3.16-carat diamond estimated to be worth $80,000 in February 2017.
Ye also put Hunter on a $1 million legal retainer in mid-2017, which ultimately was paid to assist CEFC colleague Patrick Ho after his arrest.
Someone with the same unusual first name as Ducka appears in Hunter’s abandoned laptop in an email discussion about CEFC between Hunter and associates James Gilliar and Rob Walker.
“Dorian was a real help early on so we should consider how we include him,”...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Another traitor from the FBI of Obama’s 8 years of treason.
I’m glad I worked with two of the best FBI’s CICs and knew another great CIC officer, Ray Wannell of “Operation Solo” fame.
Today’s FBI leadership is “an existential threat” to the survival of America, and I’ll throw in that worthless POS Comey, Page, Strozk etc.
Only one Ex-FBI official selective persecution the rest obeyed
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