WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) Russian national Alexei Burkov, accused of cybercrime in the United States, intends to enter a guilty plea to some of the charges against him on Thursday, his lawyer Gregory Stambaugh told Sputnik.
"I can state that Mr. Burkov intends to enter a guilty plea to certain of the charges on January 23rd," Stambaugh said. "The plea document will be made public at that time."
The hearing will be held in Alexandria at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Burkov initially pleaded not guilty to all five counts related to wire fraud, computer intrusions, identity theft and money laundering.
He is suspected of running two websites for hackers, including one that was selling stolen payment card data. The prosecution believes that over 150,000 cardholders and thousands of financial companies may qualify as victims in the trial.
If convicted on all counts, Burkov faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison.
He is scheduled to appear before a jury in April.
Prior to his extradition to the United States, Burkov spent almost four years in Israeli custody fighting unsuccessfully for being sent to Russia.
Israeli officials speculated that Russia attempted to exchange Burkov for Naama Issachar, a dual US-Israeli citizen who was arrested last year in Moscow en route home from India. She was found guilty of drug-smuggling and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. The penalty has been harshly criticized in Israel as "disproportionate" to the crime and as an attempt to gain extra leverage in Russia's fight against Burkov's extradition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asked Russia's President Vladimir Putin to pardon Issachar. Both leaders are expected to address the issue on Thursday as Putin comes to Israel for the World Holocaust Forum.
