WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2019) Russian National Maria Butina's lawyer, Robert Driscoll, told reporters he was optimistic his client will be deported from the United Sates right after sentencing.
Driscoll spoke after a status conference in a Washington, DC court where a US judge set March 28 for Butina's sentencing hearing.
"Yes, I am," Driscoll said on Tuesday when asked if he was optimistic about Butina's deportation. "She'll be deported right after sentencing... that's in the plea agreement and that's what we presume will happen."
The attorney also said he presumes Butina will get a short sentence considering time already served.
Driscoll told Sputnik on Monday he hoped the judge would set a sentencing date during the status conference. However, US prosecutors during Tuesday's hearing requested more time to finish the investigation.
In December, Butina, who initially denied the charges, pleaded guilty to acting as a foreign agent without prior notification to the US Attorney General and agreed to cooperate with authorities. According to the plea agreement, the violations carry a maximum sentence of five years.
Butina was arrested in mid-July of last year and imprisoned in Washington, DC before being transferred to a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said US authorities browbeat Butina into confessing by creating unbearable detention conditions and threatening her with a long prison sentence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no reason for the United States to indict Butina given she was not charged with any mission by the Russian government.
