FILE - This Aug. 17, 2018, file photo provided by the Alexandria (Va.) Detention Center shows Maria Butina. Butina, who admitted being a secret agent for the Kremlin believed Russian officials would consider her notes and analysis to be “valuable” as she tried to infiltrate conservative U.S. political groups. (Alexandria Detention Center via AP, File)

Convicted Russian agent Butina appeals for money

By The Associated Press May 19, 2019 at 10:14am

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian gun rights activist serving a U.S. prison sentence for acting as an unregistered foreign agent has released a video asking for money to help pay her legal costs.

Maria Butina was sentenced in April to 18 months after she admitted gathering intelligence on the National Rifle Association and other groups at the direction of a former Russian lawmaker.

In the video that appeared on social media, Butina speaks on a phone in a dormitory with bunk beds. She says her lawyer is filing an appeal and she asks for contributions to help pay him.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday on state TV that “we aren’t financing a lawyer, but we are doing everything so that she will be afforded all rights as a Russian citizen.”

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