WASHINGTON – A former top FBI counterintelligence official was sentenced on Friday to 28 months in prison for concealing at least $225,000 he took from an Albanian businessperson with ties to the Albanian government.
Charles McGonigal oversaw counterintelligence and national security operations at the time he hid his relationship with the businessperson from the FBI. McGonigal traveled with the businessperson and met with Albanian officials for their own business interests.
“For the rest of my life, I will be fighting to regain that trust and become a better person,” he told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly before he was sentenced.
Kollar-Kotelly said his remorse appeared genuine, but “unfortunately, it doesn’t repair the damage.” The former high-ranking FBI official looked as if he “lost his moral compass” at the end of his career, she commented.
The $225,000 he received from the Albanian businessperson, McGonigal said, was a loan to start a security consulting business after his retirement but he never paid back the loan.