A U.S. Army major doctor and his wife, an anaesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, have been charged with attempting to provide confidential medical info to the Russian government in an attempt to support Russia’s efforts in the war against Ukraine.
Maj. Jamie Lee Henry, 39, a staff internist, held secret-level security at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and in 2015 was reported as the first known active-duty Army officer to come out as transgender. Henry identifies as a woman, but in the indictment is repeatedly referred to as a male.
Henry’s spouse, Anna Gabrielian, 36, is listed on staff at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore as an anaesthesiologist who speaks both English and Russian.
The two met several times with an undercover FBI agent who they believed was from the Russian embassy, offering sensitive medical information on military members and their families, the indictment alleges.
The indictment accuses the couple of providing that agent medical information related to patients at Fort Bragg and Johns Hopkins to demonstrate their level of access to such information of “U.S. personnel,” and to show “the potential for the Russian government to gain insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the U.S. government and military, to exploit this information.”
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Gabrielian told the undercover agent at a Baltimore hotel on August 17 that “she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail,” the indictment says.
Gabrielian said her spouse had information about prior military training the U.S. provided to Ukraine, and later that day during a meeting between Henry and the undercover agent, Henry said he had contemplated joining the Russian army in his committment to Russia.
“The way I am viewing what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia,” he allegedly told the agent.
The indictment indicated that Henry had trepidations about violating HIPAA laws, but that his wife had no hesitation. Gabrielian said she violated the law “all the time” and she would see to it that they could provide Russia with access to medical records from Fort Bragg patients.
If convicted, Henry and Gabrielian face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy, and a maximum of five years in prison for disclosing individually identifiable health information.
You can read the DOJ press release here.