Operation Ghost Stories

Operation Ghost Stories: Inside the Russian Spy Case Case Analysis The case I decided to analyze is Operation Ghost Stories: Inside the Russian Spy Case. On the 27th day of June in 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) apprehended 10 of the 11 illegal agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). This case was a multiyear investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Counterespionage Section, and the Office of Intelligence within the Justice Department’s National Security Division (Russian Agents Arrested, 2010). The agents were charged with and ultimately pleaded guilty to the conspiracy of acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. The Russian spies would collect valuable information and transmit it back to Russia. This is the spy business is what would be known as “spotting and assessing” (Ghost Stories: Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Illegals, 2011, October 31). The main objective of the agents was to adopt American identities and gather information about nuclear weapons, the gold market, and personnel changes in the CIA. To achieve the objective set by the Russian government, the Russian spies would try to identify with vulnerable targets such as colleagues or friends. In other words, the SVR illegals, as they were called, were trying to encounter designated people who would one day hold a position of power. An FBI counterintelligence agent who worked the case said, “The Russian government spent significant funds and many years training and deploying these operatives. No government does that without expecting a return on its investment.” (Operation Ghost Stories: Inside the Russian Spy Case, 2011, October 31). No matter how long it took, the SVR illegals were willing to wait decades to achieve the goal of developing sources of information in the policymaking of the United States. After years of investigation and gathering intelligence the FBI was made aware of all the personnel involved and proceeded to arrest the SVR illegals. There is a variation of differences between the implications of domestic procedural law and international crime procedural law. Procedural laws in a domestic stance within the U.S. is that it is broken into different branches such as municipalities, state, and federal. Each branch has its code of conduct. Some states and municipalities follow the state criminal procedural law code while some states follow the Federal procedural law code. However, domestic procedural law heavily revolves around the laws of due process which states fair treatment through the normal judicial system which is especially a right you have as a citizen. International procedural laws are not set in stone. It consists of treaties and customs and lacks a common executive which means that there is no possession of the power to make a state or nation accept a court decision. Because of this to come up with a decision, one group or nation must come up with a decision. American citizens have several rights and responsibilities. Some rights include the right to a fair trial by jury, safeguard from unreasonable searches and seizures, and other due process rights that are listed in the Bill of Rights. Some responsibilities American citizens have according to procedural law is respecting and obeying federal, state, and local laws, serve on a jury when called upon, and supporting and defending the U.S. Constitution. How procedural law applies to people who are not legal U.S. citizens is because immigration proceedings are matters of administrative laws and not criminal laws. The consequences for immigrants who violate the law on U.S. soil is deportation rather than jail. According to the United States’ judicial system, the rights of non-U.S. citizens is, if facing deportation, immigrants are entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge. The immigrants have a right to a lawyer but not a lawyer that is paid by the U.S. government. They also have the right to interpretation for those who do not speak English. However, most importantly like any other case, the government must provide clear and convincing evidence to deport someone which is a lower standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The citizenship statuses of the agents did have an impact on the ability to adhere to the due process procedure. Of the 10 criminals, only one had U.S. citizenship. The others had cover passports from Canada or the U.K. Those who were not citizens of the U.S. made it especially hard to charge them as normal U.S. criminals. Yes, one of the criminals had dual citizenship. Because of this, after pleading guilty to the conspiracy of acting as an agent of a foreign government was deported back to Russia. How this information affected the U.S. ability to apprehend and charge the criminal was because most of the criminals were not citizens of the U.S. they did not have the same procedural due process as actual U.S. citizens. According to the U.S. code 18, U.S. citizens charged with spying or espionage would possibly be sentenced to death, at least a five-year prison sentence, and no less than a $10,000 bond if found guilty. Most of the criminals of Operation Ghost Stories pleaded guilty and were deported back to Russia and their passports were revoked (18 U.S. Code § 2381 – Treason, n.d.). With all of the agents residing in the U.S., it made it easier for the FBI agents to monitor and apprehend the Russian spies before they were able to get their hands on classified information. Richard Murphy, also known as Vladimir Guyver, and his cover wife Cynthia Murphy, also known as Lydia Guyver, resided and was arrested in New Jersey. Anna Chapman, Vicky Pelaez, Juan Lazaro, whose real name is Mikhail Anatonoljevich Vasenkov, resided and was arrested in New York. Michael Zottoli, also known as Mikhail Kutsik, and Patrica Mills, also known as Natalia Pereverzeva, resided in Seattle, WA but moved to Arlington, VA where they were arrested. Makhail Semenko resided and was arrested in Arlington, VA. Donald Howard Heathfield, whose real name is Andrey Bezrukov, and Tracy Lee Ann Foley, who’s real name is Yelena Vavilova, both resided in and were arrested in Cambridge, MA. Charges pressed against the Russian agents are conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, Title 18 of the United States Code, section 951. The consequences for this violation committed was deportation and the revocation of their the United States and other countries’ passports. Because most of the 10 spies arrested, convicted, and deported were originally from Russia but resided in the United States, they committed Title 18, United States Code, section 951 - conspiracy to act as unregistered agents of a foreign government (18 U.S. Code § 951 – Agents of foreign governments, n.d.). This first allowed the FBI to gather years of evidence making it possible to obtain the arrest warrants needed to charge the spies. Secondly, aided in the rapid conclusion of the case avoiding a trial that could potentially disclose sensitive information about the FBI’s gathering information techniques. The political factors that played a role in facilitating or mitigating this crime are the 1945 Cold War after WWII. The U.S. and Russia have always been in a state of political hostility with each other. Both countries would use threats, propaganda, and other methods to get ahead of each other. Both countries have also used spies to gather important confidential information from one another (Cold War Timeline, n.d.). The ability level of the law enforcement agency to effectively mitigate these crimes is operative. With the help of technical analysts, the FBI’s use of surveillance techniques was able to understand the methods and tradecrafts used by the spies to gather information about the threat posed by them (Operation Ghost Stories: Inside the Russian Spy Case, 2011, October 31). The U.S. took matters into their own hands since the crime was committed within their borders. Therefore, there was no outside involvement of international organizations. The only interaction with an international party was for the prisoner exchange through the Illegals Program. U.S. law was not facilitated in all agencies. Through the illegals program, the U.S. reciprocates their laws by making a deal with other countries for the exchange of American spies arrested in other countries. To an extent, there was cooperation between the U.S. and Russia as well as with other international countries. “Operation Ghost Stories sends a message to foreign intelligence services that espionage threats to the U.S. will not be tolerated. The FBI’s counterintelligence mission is to identify, disrupt, and defeat the activities of foreign espionage agents, and we take that job very seriously” (Operation Ghost Stories: Inside the Russian Spy Case, 2011, October 31). It is necessary to coordinate and cooperate for the safety and security of the U.S. because both these countries are powerful. If one was to not cooperate with the other it, the other would take that as a sign of disrespect that may lead to political warfare. Based on my analysis of Operation Ghost Stories, I believe the actions of the investigation and prosecution committed by the FBI and other fellow law enforcement was performed effectively. The FBI not only obtained an abundance of evidence but was able to bring home four American spies who were arrested in Russia through the Illegals Program. To produce a more desirable outcome, I believe the FBI could have done a little more surveillance before making the arrest. I believe that if they were to catch the spies in the act it would make for more of an arrest. I also think that if the FBI had gone public with the arrest it would have shown that they take the safety of the United States seriously and that they would go to great lengths to keep U.S. citizens safe.