Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent, will be sentenced late next month, a federal judge announced Thursday.
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set an April 26 sentencing date for Butina during a status conference held in federal court in D.C., where the former American University student previously pleaded guilty to one count of felony conspiracy.
Butina, 30, faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. She has been jailed since her arrest in July, and her legal team has said they will ask that her sentence include to time served so that she can return to Russia.
“We’re happy to see the process move forward,” defense attorney Robert Driscoll told journalists following Thursday’s court hearing, CNN reported.
Butina infiltrated conservative groups and the National Rifle Association with the goal of covertly influencing U.S. policy, according to the Department of Justice. She pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent but has denied working for Moscow.
Butina agreed to assist investigators as part of her plea agreement, and prosecutors cited her ongoing cooperation to successfully delay sentencing in the past.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment concerning Butina’s cooperating and sentencing.
A report published earlier this week said that Butina was interviewed earlier this year as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s recently completed investigation into Russian election interference, meanwhile. Mr. Mueller’s investigators questioned Butina for about an hour in January, CNN reported, citing two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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