A former FBI informant who prosecutors say fabricated a phony story of President Biden and his son Hunter Biden accepting $10 million in bribes from the Ukrainian gasoline firm Burisma was sentenced Wednesday to 6 years in federal jail.
Alexander Smirnov, a twin U.S.-Israeli citizen, has been behind bars since he was arrested final February on fees of constructing false statements to the FBI.
The indictment got here in reference to particular counsel David Weiss’ investigation into Hunter Biden. Weiss later indicted Hunter on tax and gun-related fees, however President Biden granted him a sweeping pardon in December earlier than his son was to be sentenced.
The Justice Division tacked on further tax fees towards Smirnov in November, alleging he hid tens of millions of {dollars} of revenue he earned between 2020 and 2022, and Smirnov pleaded guilty in December to sidestep his looming trial.
Smirnov was accused of falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian power firm Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million every round 2015. Smirnov’s explosive declare in 2020 got here after he expressed “bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, based on prosecutors. The indictment says investigators discovered Smirnov had solely routine enterprise dealings with Burisma beginning in 2017 — after Biden’s time period as vp.
Prosecutors famous that Smirnov’s declare “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as a part of the Home impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The Biden administration dismissed the Home impeachment effort as a “stunt.”
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Earlier than Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans had demanded the FBI launch the unredacted kind documenting the unverified allegations, although they acknowledged they couldn’t affirm in the event that they had been true.
“In committing his crimes he betrayed the US, a rustic that confirmed him nothing however generosity, together with conferring on him the best honor it could bestow, citizenship,” Weiss’ crew wrote in courtroom papers. “He repaid the belief the US positioned in him to be a law-abiding naturalized citizen and, extra particularly, that one in every of its premier legislation enforcement businesses positioned in him to inform the reality as a confidential human supply, by making an attempt to intervene in a Presidential election.”
Prosecutors agreed to pursue not more than six years towards Smirnov as a part of his plea deal. In courtroom papers, the Justice Division described Smirnov as a “liar and a tax cheat” who “betrayed the US,” including that his bogus corruption claims towards the Biden household had been “among the many most critical sorts of election interference one can think about.”
In searching for a lighter sentence, Smirnov’s legal professionals wrote that each Hunter Biden and President-elect Trump, who was charged in two since-dropped federal instances by Particular Counsel Jack Smith, “have walked free and away from any significant punishment.”
His legal professionals had requested for a four-year jail time period, arguing that their shopper “has realized a really grave lesson,” had no prior legal document and was affected by extreme glaucoma in each eyes. Smirnov’s sentencing Wednesday in Los Angeles federal courtroom concluded the ultimate points of Weiss’s probe, and the particular counsel is anticipated to submit a report back to Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland in accordance with federal rules. Garland can resolve whether or not to launch it to the general public.
Smirnov will get credit score for the time he has served behind bars since February.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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