Former FBI Counterintelligence Chief Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

Charles McGonigal (L), the former head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York office, and his attorney Seth Ducharme leave Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on Jan. 23, 2023. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

A former top FBI official in New York has been sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russia and to commit money laundering, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Charles McGonigal, formerly special agent in charge of counterintelligence in the FBI’s New York Field Office, was sentenced on Dec. 14 to 50 months in prison and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine for violating U.S. laws by conspiring to provide services to Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Charles McGonigal helped advance the interests of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, breaking his oath to safeguard our nation and uphold its laws,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division said in a statement.

“Today’s sentence holds him accountable for this betrayal and demonstrates this department’s commitment to deny designated individuals the means to circumvent U.S. sanctions.”

Mr. McGonigal, who’s among the highest-ranking former FBI officials to ever have been charged with a crime, pleaded guilty to the charges in August.

His lawyers asked for no prison time, but the judge came down hard on the former agent, noting the “extraordinary seriousness” of his crimes.

Federal prosecutors called for a five-year prison sentence.

The charges against Mr. McGonigal came as U.S. prosecutors ramped up efforts to enforce sanctions on Russian officials and police their alleged enablers in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘Heavy Penalty’

As an FBI agent, Mr. McGonigal helped investigate Mr. Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs, with his former job entailing supervising sanctions violations.

Mr. Deripaska was in 2018 deemed a “specially designated national” in connection with the U.S. Treasury’s finding that Russia’s actions in Ukraine amount to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. foreign policy and national security. He was later sanctioned for acting as an agent of Mr. Putin.

While investigating Mr. Deripaska, Mr. McGonigal began building a relationship with the oligarch’s agent in hopes of doing business with Mr. Deripaska after retiring from the FBI, according to the DOJ.

Then, in 2021, Mr. McGonigal conspired to provide services to Mr. Deripaska in violation of the sanctions. Specifically, the DOJ stated that he agreed to investigate a rival Russian oligarch (Vladimir Potanin) in exchange for secret payments from Mr. Deripaska, which he tried to hide by using shell companies and other means.

Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska speaks to the media outside his carmaker GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod on April 16, 2019. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

Mr. McGonigal hoped to do millions of dollars in business with Mr. Deripaska, according to the DOJ. However, FBI agents from the same division that Mr. McGonigal was once in charge of ended up foiling his scheme after only a few months of operation.

“Today’s sentence is a reminder that anyone who violates United States sanctions—particularly those in whom this country has placed its trust—will pay a heavy penalty,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.

Mr. McGonigal was one of the agents who played a role in investigating the now-discredited allegations of collusion between then-candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.

Trump–Russia Probe

Mr. McGonigal joined the FBI in 1996 and initially worked on Russian foreign counterintelligence and organized crime.

In 2016, he was named special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division for the FBI New York Field Office.

Mr. McGonigal was reportedly involved in the FBI’s investigation into Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign connections to Russia, specifically campaign adviser Carter Page.

Carter Page, petroleum industry consultant and former foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, in New York on Aug. 21, 2020. Brendon Fallon/The Epoch Times

Messages released by the then-Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in 2018 show that FBI agent Peter Strzok communicated with Mr. McGonigal about the investigation involving Mr. Trump’s campaign members.

In March 2017, Mr. McGonigal wrote to a colleague: “Our Team is currently talking to [Carter Page] re Russia,” The Washington Free Beacon noted. It’s unclear what other involvement he had in the Trump–Russia probe.

During President Trump’s 2016 campaign, Mr. Page was the subject of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant, which let the DOJ monitor his communications. In the now-discredited claims, the DOJ alleged that Mr. Page was “collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government” and had been the subject of past Russian intelligence recruiting efforts.

Mr. Page has denied working with the Russian government and has never been charged in connection with the investigations into the Trump campaign.

Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.