Maria Butina, Russian agent found guilty, will be sentenced Friday in Federal Court: NPR

A Russian woman who has plotted to infiltrate conservative political circles and open channels of communication behind the scenes as part of an unofficial campaign of influence must be sentenced in federal court on Friday.

Maria Butina pleaded guilty in December to a conspiracy charge to serve as a Russian agent in the United States without registering with the Department of Justice. She faces up to five years in prison, although the final decision on sentencing goes to US District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.

The case of Butina was treated separately from the investigation conducted by the special advocate Robert Mueller in Russia. But along with Mueller's investigation, she exposed the different ways in which Moscow tries to influence American politics.

Butina was arrested by the FBI in July and has been detained by the federal government ever since. She is currently being held in solitary confinement at a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, DC.

His case caught the attention of international media after the government accused Butina of using female devices – like the movie "Red Sparrow" – to extract information.

Prosecutors subsequently withdrew from this allegation.

But even before these assertions, Butina had attracted public attention through the use of her stated interest in gun rights and American politics in order to build relationships with senior officials of the National Rifle Association and the Republican Party.

His boyfriend Paul Erickson, a long-time GOP fundraiser and NRA supporter, played a key role in raising awareness among Republicans, including the Trump campaign.

Erickson, who has more than 20 years of seniority in Butina, faces charges of federal investment fraud in a separate case.

According to Butina's plea agreement, she allegedly conspired with a Russian government official, Alexander Torshin, to collect information and open unofficial channels of communication with influential and powerful Americans, and to use these connections for the benefit of Russia.

This is what the government wrote in its sentencing memorandum.

Butina was not a spy in the traditional sense of the term attempt to access classified information to send back to her home country. The acquisition of valuable information for a foreign power does not necessarily involve the collection of classified documents or participation in camouflage activities. Something as basic as identifying people able to influence the policy in favor of a foreign power is extremely attractive to these powers. This identification could form the basis of other forms of intelligence or targeting operations in the future.

Counterintelligence officials call this "spotting and evaluating". It is also what a group of so-called "illegal" gathered in 2010, trying to do, working for Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR.

The bottom line in Butina's case is that she acted on behalf of the Russian government and was likely to harm the national security of the United States, officials said.

Prosecutors recommended recognizing Butina "substantial assistance" that she provided to investigators as part of her plea agreement. But they still demanded that she be sentenced to 18 months in prison, because "her actions here have undermined the interests of US national security."

The case of the defense

Butina's lawyers, on the other hand, presented it in a different light.

They described her activities as "good citizenship diplomacy" with good intentions. They acknowledged that she had not informed the Attorney General of her efforts and had stated that she "acknowledged that her good intentions had been sought by illegal means".

Overall, however, they said: "Her motives were not nauseating." Maria was really interested in improving relations between the two countries and she had no malicious intent ".

The lawyers stated that Butina had acknowledged her guilt and "felt the depths of shame, humiliation and remorse for her actions". She has spent approximately nine months in federal custody, pleaded guilty and "does everything in her power to rectify her mistakes through cooperation and assistance".

Butina's lawyers said she was ready to return to her family and asked Chutkan to impose a prison sentence served. If the judge agrees, it could mean that Butina could be released quickly and expelled.