A former high-ranking FBI official who had a significant role in the Donald Trump-Russia probe has been sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for colluding with a Russian oligarch.

Charles McGonigal, who led the agency’s New York counterintelligence division, accepted bribe money from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to gather dirt on a rival oligarch.

Collin Rugg writes:

McGonigal accepted over $17,000 from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska who he supplied information to.

Deripaska is a close associate of Vladimir Putin and has a net worth of about $3 billion.

“Charles McGonigal violated the trust his country placed in him by using his high-level position at the FBI to prepare for his future in business,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

“Once he left public service, he jeopardized our national security by providing services to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian tycoon who acts as Vladimir Putin’s agent.”

The New York Post reports:

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 in IT.”

“He was looking to turn his credentials into cash.”

“Ex-FBI Counterintelligence Chief, and Peter Strzok’s boss, Charles McGonigal, who was in charge of my ‘case’ during the Russia investigation scam, was just sentenced to 4+ years for colluding with Russian oligarchs. Fined $40,000, his actions mark a startling breach of U.S. sanctions and trust. You cannot make this up,” George Papadopoulos wrote.

Per Zero Hedge:

On Thursday, McGonigal was slapped with a 50-month prison term and a fine of $40,000, handed down by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden of Federal District Court. Rearden said her sentence was designed to balance McGonigal’s more than two decades as a law enforcement officer with the “extremely serious” nature of his crimes – which she said threatened national security.

She added that while he may not have intended to undercut sanctions on Deripaska, which were critical in America’s efforts to punish Russia, “that is precisely what he ended up doing” when he investigated Deripaska’s rival, Vladimir Potanin.

Mr. McGonigal’s work on the oligarch’s behalf — obscured by use of shell companies and subcontractors — involved seeking information about Mr. Potanin’s business. The ultimate goal, prosecutors said, was to cause sanctions to be placed on Mr. Potanin, potentially leveling the playing field with Mr. Deripaska. But the plot unraveled within months, after the F.B.I. seized Mr. McGonigal’s cellphone and that of another associate, Sergey Shestakov. -NY Times

In September, McGonigal also pleaded guilty in the Washington case, where he was charged with hiding $225,000 in payments received from a former Albanian intelligence officer. He is due to be sentenced for that case in February.

“It is not an overstatement to say that no one knew better the gravity of McGonigal’s crimes than McGonigal himself,” wrote the US attorney on the case, Damian Williams.

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