His own cellmate in Lefortovo used to joke that the inmates were fed dog food in the mornings. officer Whelan stated that he was in Russia to attend a friends wedding, and he knew that the flash drive contained some holiday photos he had received. Then-Staff Sgt. [7] He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. At the time, there were uncorroborated reports he had been caught receiving a digital storage device containing a list of intelligence officials. Hunt says Friday that we are giving him every support that we can, but we dont agree with individuals being used in diplomatic chess games., Hunt adds that we are extremely worried about him and his family.. It was a flat, abrupt end to a spy trial that had taken just a handful of closed hearings. But the space measures 9.5 square metres between two prisoners and exercise is one hour a day on the roof. Although we were only allowed to attend for the opening remarks, we managed to snatch several conversations with him. Whelan has been in Russian custody for nearly four years, convicted on charges of espionage and spying for the U.S. government and sentenced to 16 years in prison. In Room 3324 of Moscow's Metropol hotel, Paul Whelan was getting dressed for a friend's wedding when Russian intelligence officers burst in. The twin brother of the American man being held in Moscow on alleged spying charges is urging the U.S. government to help get his brother released. If so, it appears that Paul Whelan was blind to the threat. The details of the charges against Whelan from a special court-martial two years later, which resulted in his discharge for bad conduct, add to an increasingly Russia has angrily denied involvement in the poisonings. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant in December 2004 and was deployed in the war against Iraq for several months in 2004 and 2006. "The temptation is high: to rise in rank; for promotion; for more stars on your epaulettes," the lawyer says. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PAUL N. WHELAN. It's possible he even introduced his parents to "Dmitry" on their 2009 trip to Russia, they can't be sure. His lawyers do plan to appeal against the verdict but other, bigger forces are already at play. Read about our approach to external linking. The Bizarre Case Of The Ex-Marine Accused By Russia Of There were signs of problems even earlier. His arrest and 14-year prison sentence caused a scandal back home when it emerged that civilians with no diplomatic cover were being used for high-risk espionage. Evidence shows that he was caught with a flash drive that contained highly classified information. [24] According to attorneys for Whelan, they could not provide the name of Whelan's Russian friend due to Russian secrecy rules, but Whelan's family identified the person as Ilya Yatsenko, whom the Russian newspaper Kommersant described as a major in the FSB's Department "K", which monitors Russian economic crimes. Mr Whelan continued to work for Kelly Services, being promoted to senior manager of global security and investigations in 2010. Russia has not publicly presented any evidence to support the charges against Whelan. His job included campus security as well as electronic and IT-related security. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. [7] A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor police department. This article will convey all the necessary information on Paul Whelan. The website content does support later descriptions of Paul Whelan by contacts, colleagues and family as an enthusiastic world traveller who "made friends pretty much everywhere" and had an interest in Russian culture.

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