BARNAUL. Oct 21 (Interfax) - Russian citizen Maria Butina, who is expected to be released from prison in the United States after serving her prison term, on October 25, is in a good mood, the woman's father Valery Butin told Interfax on Monday.
"Of course, Masha and myself are in good spirits. There are several days left before her release. We expect her prompt return, but we are nervous because we and the lawyers do not know the details of her release," Butin, who is in Barnaul, said.
Butin said he is ready to go to Moscow to collect his daughter at the airport, adding that he hopes there will be no migration problems with her arrival.
"I intend to fly to Moscow to meet my daughter here, but there is currently no information on the flight and the day of her arrival. I suppose we will find everything out at the end of the week. The Foreign Ministry is doing everything possible to ensure that she arrives in Russia as quickly as possible after her release, we don't have any complaints about them. I don't think we will stay in Moscow long, no meetings are planned as we just want to calm down, live through these emotions," he said.
Butin additionally said the family still owes the lawyers money. He did not specify the amount of the debt for lawyers' services, but said the debt is being paid off gradually with private money coming to the Butina support fund.
A former aide to Russian Federation Council member Alexander Torshin and founder of the Right to Bear Arms association, Maria Butina entered the U.S. on a student visa, as she studied at the American University in Washington until spring 2018. She was arrested on July 15, 2018. The U.S. Justice Department charged Butina with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government in the U.S. without prior notification to the Attorney General.
The investigation established that Butina had conspired to infiltrate conservative U.S. circles in order to promote Russian interests, acted as an agent of a Russian government official, and took advantage of her personal connections with a U.S. citizen who was able to influence U.S. politics. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal foreign agent and concluded a plea deal with the prosecution at the end of 2018.
On April 26, a U.S. court sentenced Butina to 18 months for undeclared activities in favor of Russia's interests in the U.S. She was credited for the more than nine months she had already been held in prison pending trial.
Butina will be deported from the U.S. after she has fully served her sentence. Following the deportation, she will be barred from entering the U.S. for ten years.