Russian Spy Maria Butina Sentenced to Only 18 Months in Prison: ‘I Destroyed My Own Life’
Maria Butina, a Russian agent who charmed American conservatives with her love of guns, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a D.C. federal judge on Friday. She is expected to serve closer to nine months thanks to time already served in jail.
Just before she was sentenced, Butina made an emotional plea for leniency from the judge.
“My parents discovered my arrest on the morning news they watch in their rural house in a Siberian village,” she said. “I love them dearly, but I harmed them morally and financially. They are suffering from all of that. I destroyed my own life as well. I came to the United States not under any orders, but with hope, and now nothing remains but penitence.”