WASHINGTON, 17 & nbsp; December./TASS /. The Federal Court of the American District of Columbia rejected the motion of State Duma Deputy Maria Butina, who was released in & nbsp; 2019 from an & nbsp; American prison, to & nbsp; annul her earlier sentence. & Nbsp; This is stated in & nbsp; judgment of Judge Tanya Chatken, which was published on & nbsp; Friday in the & nbsp; electronic database of the court.
She recalled that & nbsp; & laquo; 8 & nbsp; September 2020, Butina filed a petition & lt; & hellip; & gt; about & nbsp; cancellation, change of the sentence. “ As part of this petition, she asks to overturn the conviction, the sentence imposed and & nbsp; the & nbsp; deportation order & nbsp; & nbsp; & mdash; the judge explained.
As Chatken noted, “Butina agreed and & nbsp; joined the government’s petition for & nbsp; deportation, which & nbsp; significantly undermined her & nbsp; statement that & nbsp; the court was wrong in & nbsp; passing [this] ruling.” “ Butina has served her sentence and & nbsp; will live freely in & nbsp; home, in & nbsp; Russia & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; she added, pointing out that & nbsp; this deprives her & nbsp; of the right to & nbsp; the requests made in the & nbsp; petition. Chatken also pointed out that & nbsp; in & nbsp; plays a big role and & nbsp; the fact that & nbsp; Butina is a foreigner.
According to & nbsp; her version, the documents submitted by the Russian woman are not & nbsp; proper means to & nbsp; cancel her & nbsp; conviction and & nbsp; penalties. “ For these reasons, the defendant's petition to & nbsp; set aside the decision is rejected '', & nbsp; & mdash; concluded the judge.
On July 15, 2018, Butina was detained in & nbsp; Washington and & nbsp; charged on & nbsp; two counts. According to the & nbsp; version of the investigation, Butina conducted activities in the & nbsp; US territory for the & nbsp; benefit of a foreign state, without & nbsp; having the status of a foreign agent, which must be registered with the Department of Justice. According to the & nbsp; aggregate of the charges brought against her, she & nbsp; faced up to & nbsp; 15 years in prison. On April 26, 2019, she was & nbsp; sentenced to & nbsp; 1.5 years in prison. In & nbsp; her last word, she said that & nbsp; came to the & nbsp; USA with & nbsp; purpose to help in the & nbsp; business of improving relations between Moscow and & nbsp; Washington. Butina stressed that & nbsp; did not & nbsp; knew about the & nbsp; need to register as a foreign agent, and & nbsp; apologized for & nbsp; actions that were regarded in the & nbsp; USA as a violation of the law. Chatken, who presided over the & nbsp; trial, admitted that & nbsp; Butina did not & nbsp; acted in the & nbsp; United States as an intelligence officer. The judge granted the prosecution's petition for the & nbsp; deportation of the Russian woman to her homeland after serving her sentence. On 8 & nbsp; May 2019, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, announced that & nbsp; Butina will be released on & nbsp; freedom on 5 & nbsp; November. The prison term was then reduced to & nbsp; 25 & nbsp; October 2019. On the next day, she returned to her homeland.