WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI informant accused of fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Alexander Smirnov's deal with Justice Department special counsel David Weiss to plead guilty comes just weeks after prosecutors filed new tax evasion charges against him. The two sides will recommend a sentence of at least 48 months behind bars and no more than 72 months, according to the agreement.
Attorneys for Smirnov didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.
Smirnov was arrested in February on allegations that he falsely reported to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016. Smirnov told his handler that an executive claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Smirnov in fact had only routine business dealings with the company in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he “expressed bias” against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate.
Smirnov has agreed to plead guilty to charges of tax evasion and causing a false FBI record, according to court papers.
Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
