The U.S. Army Major Jamie Lee Henry and his wife, civilian doctor Anna Gabrielian, are accused of spying in the United States for the Russian government. They collected confidential information about patients in a military hospital.
The BBC writes about it.
The couple was arrested on Thursday, September 29. Prosecutors then filed the indictment in court in Baltimore, Maryland.
According to the indictment, the couple wanted to help the Russian government "obtain health information about individuals associated with the U.S. government and military."
The indictment alleges that Major Henry, 39, planned to gain access to private medical records at a hospital at the large Fort Bragg military base. And 36-year-old Dr. Gabrielyan is accused of trying to spread information from her place of work — Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
In mid-August, she was approached by a person who, according to legend, worked at the Russian embassy, but was actually an FBI agent.
During the meeting, Gabrielyan allegedly told the agent that "she was motivated by her patriotism towards Russia to provide any assistance possible, even if it meant release or imprisonment."
During another meeting on the same day, Major Henry also told the agent that he was sympathetic to Russia and was considering volunteering for the Russian army.
Prosecutors say the couple planned to hand over medical records to prove to the Russians their willingness to help and show the level of access to classified information.
The defendants face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and up to 10 years on each count of disclosing health information.
- Major Henry became the first known active-duty U.S. military officer to come out as transgender after she was officially allowed to change her name and gender in 2015. In the same year, Henry and Gabrielyan got married.