LISTEN —聽 EXCLUSIVE: Maria Butina鈥檚 attorney speaks out about her case
Maria Butina, 30, a Russian gun-rights enthusiast who pled guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a Kremlin plot to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups, could be released from jail next month.
In an exclusive interview with 草莓传媒, her attorney Robert Driscoll said the release might happen as early as 鈥渕id-April.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not guaranteed and up to the judge, but we鈥檙e hopeful,鈥� Driscoll said in聽a wide-ranging Target USA podcast interview about Butina鈥檚 arrest and conviction.
In a Feb. 26 status hearing, Judge Tanya Chutkan said Butina had served a 鈥渟ubstantial鈥� portion of whatever sentence she would likely get for her guilty plea.
According to Driscoll, 鈥渟he faces five years. She faced 15 in the initial indictment. The plea allows us to argue for zero to six months.鈥�
Butina was arrested on July 15 and charged with 鈥渃onspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.鈥�
Federal prosecutors, who watched her for several years, said in a detention memo: 鈥淎lthough she attended classes and completed coursework with outside help, attending American University was Butina鈥檚 cover while she continued to work on behalf of the Russian official.鈥�
The 鈥渙fficial鈥� referenced in the memo was part of a group that allegedly included Butina and 鈥渒nown and unknown individuals who knowingly did combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together and with each other to commit an offense against the United States,鈥� according to a criminal complaint from the U.S. attorney for D.C. Jessie K. Lui.
The indictment accused Butina of being a foreign agent affiliated with Russian intelligence, who allegedly attempted 鈥渢o exploit influential U.S. persons connected to American political organizations.鈥�
Her task, according to the documents, was to allegedly develop 鈥渞elationships with U.S. persons, and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.鈥�
She became a lightning rod in the battle between U.S. public media and Russian government-controlled media to paint each other as overzealous distorters of truth.
The Kremlin, on multiple occasions, accused the U.S. government of mistreating Butina.
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At one point in August 2018, the Russian Foreign Ministry, which adopted Butina鈥檚 image as the face of its twitter feed, quoted spokesperson Maria Zakharova in a tweet saying, 鈥淒espite our many requests, conditions in which Maria Butina is being held remain harsh and it has resulted in health issues. It seems like trying to complicate her life as much as possible in (the) U.S.;they鈥檇 like to force her to cooperate with (the) investigation.鈥�
Driscoll said at the time: 鈥淚 think the Russians are upset that, at night, they check every 15 minutes on inmates in protective custody. Some guards turn on the lights to do so. This can be problematic, because you never really sleep. Some use flashlights, which is better.鈥�
On numerous occasions, the Russian government claimed that Butina was being tortured, something Driscoll believed was overblown.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want say the Russians complaints were invalid, because they weren鈥檛, but the conditions Maria was in were not atypical of a general detainee in D.C. jail,鈥� Driscoll said.
He describes her current physical condition as 鈥済ood, although she鈥檚 lost some weight in jail.鈥�
Butina, who鈥檚 been in custody for eight months, faces another hearing on March 28. At that point, she could find out exactly when she鈥檒l be a free woman again.
Driscoll said that she鈥檚 鈥渃ontrite but optimistic. She is anxious to see her family.鈥�
