In an anticipated court move, a once top-ranking FBI official is set to enter a guilty plea next week in a Manhattan federal court, as revealed in recent court documents.
The official, Charles McGonigal, previously oversaw counterintelligence at the FBI’s New York office. A judge’s directive schedules him for a “plea proceeding” on Aug. 5, noting the potential change in his plea stance.
McGonigal’s charges revolve around his association with Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian billionaire who faced criminal charges last year for breaching these sanctions.
With his retirement from the FBI dating back to 2018, McGonigal stands accused of attempting to remove Deripaska from the U.S. sanctions list, violating these very sanctions. Additionally, allegations suggest he initiated probes into a competing Russian oligarch, a service for which Deripaska allegedly compensated him discreetly.
A separate case in Washington, D.C., implicates McGonigal in hiding $225,000 he purportedly acquired from a former Albanian intelligence associate. Last week, his counsel hinted at the possibility of settling this case outside of a courtroom trial.