Charles F. McGonigal, a former high-ranking FBI official who once played a pivotal role in the controversial Trump-Russia collusion investigation, was sentenced on Friday to an additional 28 months in federal prison.
McGonigal, 55, faced the judicial consequences for failing to disclose a substantial sum of $225,000 he received from an Albanian businessman connected to the Albanian government.
The sentencing was made public by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, alongside FBI Assistant Directors Donald Alway of the Los Angeles Field Office and David Sundberg of the Washington Field Office.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed down the sentence, which also includes a three-year term of supervised release after McGonigal’s imprisonment.
McGonigal was previously the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, a role in which he was responsible for, among other duties, counterintelligence investigations.
In September, McGonigal admitted that he received at least $225,000 in cash from a person with whom he also traveled internationally, during which they met with foreign citizens. This person later became an informant for the FBI in a criminal case concerning foreign political lobbying, a case over which McGonigal had supervisory authority.
The court recognized that his actions significantly obstructed the administration of justice.
As the Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s New York Field Office, McGonigal had a significant role in overseeing matters of national security and counterintelligence from August 2017 until his retirement in September 2018.
“During this time, McGonigal concealed from the FBI the nature of his relationship with a former foreign security officer and businessperson who had ongoing business interests in foreign countries and before foreign governments. Specifically, McGonigal hid from the FBI that he received at least $225,000 in cash from the individual and traveled abroad with him and met with foreign nationals, in-part to advance their private business interests,” according to the DOJ.
This sentence follows his prior conviction for charges unrelated to the current case.
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