A federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, indicted four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals, alleging they conducted a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign, according to a Tuesday press release from the Justice Department (DOJ).
Moscow resident Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov allegedly founded the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), which was funded by the Russian government and utilized to carry out the purported malign influence campaign, according to the press release. Ionov may have been aided by two Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov, whom the grand jury also indicted.
The three individuals allegedly conspired to influence the election of an unidentified local public office candidate in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2019. They intended to work past the local election cycle and discussed the “USA Presidential Election” as the FSB’s “main topic of the year,” according to the press release. (RELATED: Two New Yorkers Charged With Operating ‘Secret’ Chinese Police Station In Manhattan, Conspiring With Communists)
U.S. Citizens and Russian Intelligence Officers Charged with Conspiring to Use U.S. Citizens as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government
Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United Stateshttps://t.co/PDgZU8LUuF
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) April 18, 2023
Ionov, in order to help his alleged efforts, recruited individuals from American political groups such as the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement in Florida (together known as the APSP), the Black Hammer in Georgia and an unidentified group in California, according to the press release. Four U.S citizens — Omali Yeshitela, Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel and Augustus C. Romain Jr. — were all allegedly members of the APSP and subsequently indicted.
The FBI searched some of the suspects’ homes in 2022, to which a member of the group claimed they were being targeted, “because of our relationship with forces internationally who support the anti-colonial struggle,” according to The Washington Post.
The Justice Department on Monday announced charges against two New York residents for allegedly operating a Chinese police station in lower Manhattan.
All seven individuals from Tuesday’s indictment are charged with conspiring to have U.S. citizens act as illegal agents of the Russian government within the U.S. without notifying the Attorney General ahead of time, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted, the press release reads. Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel were also charged with acting as illegal agents of Russia without providing prior notification, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted.