Russian ex-cop gets 15 years for CIA spying

A Moscow court has sentenced Roman Ushakov, a former police officer, to 15 years in prison for espionage. According to prosecutors, he passed secret information about the work of Russia’s Interior Ministry to the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Evidence against Ushakov included encrypted messages he allegedly passed to American intelligence agents, a container disguised to look like a rock for handing off data, and a letter supposedly from the CIA itself. Attorney General spokesperson Vitkor Antipov said Ushakov was caught red-handed and has fully confessed. He’s also apparently disclosed to Russian authorities all his contacts inside US intelligence.

According to the news agency RIA Novosti, Roman Ushakov is a native of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

According to the court order, authorities confiscated from Ushakov 37,000 euros [$41,000] given to him by US intelligence agents.

Since the beginning of 2015, several cases involving treason and espionage charges have made major headlines in Russia. The list of suspects includes Vladimir Golubev, a former researcher at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, Evgeny Petrin, a clerk in Moscow Patriarchate’s office who says he was an FSB agent, a certain Gennady Kravtsov, and Petr Parpulov, a former employee of the Sochi airport.

The prosecution of Svetlana Davydova, a mother of seven children, has resonated most strongly with the public. Investigators say Davydova handed over classified information about Russian troop movements to the Ukrainian embassy in April 2014. Following a campaign to free her from jail, police later released Davydova on her own recognizance.