Former FBI Special Agent in Charge, Charles F. McGonigal, once in charge of the New York Field Office, was sentenced Friday to 28 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
McGonigal pleaded guilty on Sept. 22, 2023, to concealing material facts for failing to disclose his receipt of $225,000 in cash from an individual with ties to the Albanian government while he was supervising counterintelligence investigations. The court found that McGonigal’s conduct involved ‘substantial’ interference with the administration of justice.
Context Matters with Foreign Contacts
McGonigal served as Special Agent of the FBI New York Field Office from August 2017 until his retirement from the bureau in September 2018. According to papers filed with the court, during this assignment McGonigal concealed from the FBI the nature of a relationship he had with a former foreign security officer and business person with interests in and before foreign governments.
According to a Department of Justice press release, the FBI arrested McGonigal on Jan. 21, 2023, at J.F.K. International Airport in New York. He was simultaneously indicted on charges by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of New York. In December 2023, McGonigal was sentenced to 50 months in prison and ordered to pay a $40,000 fine for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to commit money laundering in an unrelated case being prosecuted in the Southern District of New York.
Remorse After the Fact
After pleading guilty, McGonigal told the court, “This, as you can imagine, has been a painful process not just for me but for my family, friends and loved ones.”
McGonigal stated that he “is deeply remorseful” and takes full responsibility, never intending to hurt the U.S., the FBI or his family.”
“Charles McGonigal, by his own admission, betrayed his oath and actively concealed his illicit work at the bidding of a sanctioned Russian oligarch,” said Matthew G. Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“Charles McGonigal’s conduct can be summed up in one word – betrayal. He betrayed everything he once swore to protect,” said Executive Assistant Director Larissa L. Knapp of the National Security Branch.
