MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Relatives of Maria Butina, a Russian citizen sentenced to 18 months in a US prison for espionage, expected her to be acquitted and to return to Russia, Butina's father Valery Butin told TASS.

"We hoped that our daughter would come back. <…> Let’s hope that she will serve her sentence in better conditions than during her detainment," the father said.

He added that so far, the family is unable to visit Butina in the USA.

Earlier on Friday, a court in Washington sustained the prosecution’s request for sentencing Butina to 18 months. 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.

Butina’s case

Maria Butina, 30, was arrested in Washington DC on July 15, right before the Helsinki meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump. The US Department of Justice said that she was suspected of acting "as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with US persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in American politics, for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation."

On December 13, Butina pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the US law governing foreign agents operating in the country and signed a plea agreement. The prosecution said at the time that the process of Butina’s cooperation with the investigation might take some time.

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.