WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) A US Federal court is expected to sentence Russian national Maria Butina during a hearing on Friday just as prosecutors have injected new controversial evidence into the case.
The Russian citizen's sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST (2:00 p.m. GMT) at the US District Court for DC under presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan.
Butina, who has been in US custody since mid-July of last year, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent as part of a plea deal. Butina has requested a sentence of time served.
Although the US government in March agreed with the defense to deport Butina immediately after sentencing, authorities changed their story just days before Friday's hearing.
US prosecutors in a pre-sentencing memo last week recommended an 18-month prison term for Butina citing an attached declaration from former FBI agent Robby Anderson.
On Thursday, a US judge denied defense's motion to exclude Anderson's declaration from the sentencing hearing.
Defense lawyers argued that allowing the declaration is a violation of Butina's right to due process.
Anderson in the declaration alleged that Butina's work for the Russian government was of "tremendous intelligence value" and may have caused "significant damage to the United States."
Despite the court's decision, Butina's lawyer Robert Driscoll told Sputnik on Thursday that they will go forward with Friday's hearing.
Butina was arrested in mid-July of last year and imprisoned in Washington, DC before being transferred to a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia.
In November, the Russian Embassy in the United States said US authorities kept Butina in a single cell under solitary confinement for 67 days, exceeding the limit recommended by the Nelson Mandela Rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Butina's indictment was unjustified because she was not charged with any mission on behalf of the Russian government.
