Former FBI official sentenced for helping Russian oligarch evade sanctions

A former FBI agent has received four years and two months in prison after pleading guilty to aiding a Russian oligarch evade sanctions.

Charles McGonigal, a former bureau counterintelligence official, further received a $40,000 fine, the Associated Press reported. Judge Jennifer H. Rearden imposed the sentence. He pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. 

McGonigal also said he received more than $17,000, moreover, for helping oligarch Oleg Deripaska unearth compromising materials on a business rival.

He pleaded guilty to a separate charge in September of this year, admitting to concealing $225,000 in foreign payments from an Albanian official while working at the bureau.

"I recognize more than ever that I’ve betrayed the confidence and trust of those close to me. For the rest of my life, I will be fighting to regain that trust," McGonigal said at his sentencing. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.