Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to have reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Her attorneys and prosecutors on Monday filed a joint-two paged motion in federal court in Washington in which they said “have resolved this matter” and want to enter a “change of plea” hearing as soon as Tuesday.
Butina, 30, was arrested on July 15 and charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act by acting as an unregistered Russian agent within the United States. Her work at the direction of a high-level Russian official, believed to be Aleksandr Torshin, began as early as 2015 and continued until at least February 2017.
In July, federal prosecutors said she used her “duplicitous relationship” with Paul Erickson as a cover as she worked to “advance the agenda of the Russian Federation.”
Butina, who pleaded not guilty, has continually maintained her innocence through court filings by her lawyers, and has remained custody since her pleading.
Her lead lawyer, Robert Driscoll, has argued she was only interested in networking with people who were influential in American politics.
Federal prosecutors that “U.S. Person 1” — i.e. Erickson — “worked with Butina to arrange introductions to U.S. persons having influence in American politics,” including high-ranking members of the National Rifle Association and organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast.
Prosecutors have also said Butina was in regular contact with the FSB, the Russian intelligence agency that replaced the Soviet-era KGB.
Butina has remained in solitary confident, despite an request late last month from her lawyers for a change. In a court filing, Driscoll said she has been held in “administrative segregation” at an adult detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, since November 21.
Before that, she was spending 22 hours in solitary confinement in a Washington detention center before being released into the general population.
According to Driscoll, she was moved to solitary on November 21 after she gave a fellow inmate the phone number for her lawyers.
In mid-November, her lawyers disclosed in a joint court filing that Butina was negotiating a “potential resolution” to her criminal case.
