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US court sentences Russian national Maria Butina to 18 months in jail

The judge ignored the defense lawyers’ request Butina should be sentenced to a term equal to the period she has already spent in custody

Maria Butina EPA-EFE/Press Service of Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation

Maria Butina

© EPA-EFE/Press Service of Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation

WASHINGTON, April 26. /TASS/. A court in Washington has sentenced Russian national Maria Butina to 18 years in prison, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.

Judge Tanya Chutkan ignored the defense lawyers’ request Butina should be sentenced to a term equal to the period she has already spent in custody. Instead, she sustained the prosecution’s request for sentencing Butina to 18th months.

Butina’ case

Maria Butina, 30, was charged with conspiracy for the purpose of conducing activities in favor of a foreign country in the territory of the United States. US secret services claimed Butina indulged in such activity without being registered as a foreign agent at the US Department of Justice.

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Butina was arrested in Washington on July 15, 2018 ahead of the summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Helsinki. Moscow described the charges against Butina as a fake and demanded her release from custody.

Butina had arrived in the United States for a course of studies. Last spring she obtained a master’s degree at American University, where she studied international relations.

On December 13, Butina faced court in the District of Columbia to plead guilty to one of the charges concerning the foreign agents act. She signed a plea bargain with the prosecutor-general’s office. The date when the sentence might be pronounced was not disclosed at once at the request of the attorney’s office, because the process of Butina’s cooperation with the investigation, it was stated, might take some time.

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