Maria Butina Tells Judge She Wants to Go Back to Russia

(Bloomberg) -- Maria Butina, who faces an April 26 sentencing after pleading guilty to being an unregistered Russian agent operating in the U.S., told a federal judge she wants to be sent home.

“I have not been persecuted in, and have no present fear of persecution in the Russian Federation, the country of my nativity and citizenship,” Butina said in an affidavit made part of a 12-page packet of papers submitted to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington on Friday.

The filing was made jointly with the office of Washington U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, which prosecuted the government’s case against the 30-year-old Russian who arrived in Washington as an American University student in 2016. Butina then quickly -- and visibly -- made inroads with Republican Party figures, including the now former-Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the National Rifle Association. She even asked a question of then-candidate Donald Trump at a conference.

Butina has been in federal custody since July when she was indicted for conspiracy against the U.S. While the statutory maximum punishment for her crime is five years’ imprisonment, it is possible Butina will be sentenced to time served with an order to be immediately removed from the U.S. The parties submitted such a proposed order to Chutkan on Friday.

Liu withdrew her name Thursday from consideration for the third-highest post at the Justice Department, associate U.S. attorney general.

The case is U.S. v. Butina, 18-cr-218, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wollman

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