Sadly, for Mr. Whelan, it appears his own adventurism made True. In early 2019, the drama of his now multi-national arrest was developing against a hostile political backdrop, with mutual sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and East-West tension not felt since Soviet times. Please comment. At the time, one ambassador told me the move had hit Moscow's spying capacity hard. the man replied to my enquiries, adding that his own interest was in the ex-Marine's time in Iraq. "It will be very difficult to mount a defence.". In 2001, Whelan began work at Kelly Services, a Troy-based company that offers consulting, temporary workers and workforce solutions to businesses around the world. While not as severe as a dishonorable discharge, a bad conduct discharge is a significant punishment in the U.S. military justice system. David Whelan issued a family statement on Friday on behalf of his brother, Paul Whelan, saying that the family was very pleased to know that staff of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow have been given consular access to Paul and confirmed that he is safe., He says the familys focus remains on ensuring that Paul is safe, well treated, has a good lawyer, and is coming home.. WebEither a spook or doing some industrial espionage. "I don't believe that Paul is a spy," the man wrote to me. Twin brother of Novi man accused of spying in Russia: He's innocent, US wants access to Michigan man held in Moscow on spy charges, Novi businessman, 48, accused of 'spy mission' in Russia, 'Does not fit any spy': What made accused Russian spy Maria Butina different. Odds are he did something wrong. A special court martial also found him guilty of failing to report his vacation time. ((This Dec. 8 story has been corrected to fix paragraph 8 to make clear Whelan was given a bad-conduct discharge from the Marine Corps, not a dishonourable discharge).) U.S. military records released shortly after his arrest last week showed that Paul Whelan had been convicted at a court-martial of charges that included larceny but did not disclose the nature of his crime. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The US has said repeatedly the two men were convicted in open and fair trials. All the signs so far suggest Moscow is opening with a high bid - Viktor Bout, a weapons dealer serving 25 years in America and Konstantin Yaroshenko, sentenced to 20 years for drugs smuggling. [7] He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. Image Via KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images. "He has friends in other countries with a military background, I think it was a social thing," David Whelan argues. He's now back home after a prisoner-swap. MILITARY JUSTICE QUICK GUIDE. He is currently facing. Paul Whelan Last year, he was sent to solitary confinement for a month. Did he commit any severe crime? Whelan But Whelan never made it to the ceremony. "And a catastrophe for Paul". Paul Whelan New details have emerged about the military historyNovi businessman Paul Whelan, who has been accused of spying in Russia. In 2016 he left the company and became the director for global security in a US-based company. President Biden said Thursday that those efforts have failed so far because Russia has decided to treat Whelans case differently given the nature of the espionage charges levied against him. Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report. "Had this been an independent court, they would have reached only one decision - not guilty," his lawyer, Vladimir Zherebyonkov said after the verdict. He said his brother planned to return to Michigan on January 6, 2019, via Saint Petersburg. Whelan said the drive had been given to him by a friend, as part of a sting operation, and he was under the impression it contained wedding photographs. Whelan, 48, was arrested Friday in Moscow, and was charged with espionage. Russia would later insinuate, via anonymous sources quoted in the press, that the CIA had selected candidates for Paul Whelan to cultivate for intelligence. That first day, though - in a cage, with a dozen cameras trained on him - he looked tense and spoke little. She was imprisoned in the US in December 2018 and deported back to Russia in October 2019. Paul N. Whelan, adjutant, Marine Air Control Group 38 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), pictured before the Kremlin in 2007. Earlier this year, American Trevor Reed, a former Marine who was detained in 2019, was exchanged for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot who was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. prison. Officers typically bide their time, he explains, calling it "calf-rearing", before a target is culled. American Paul Whelan was discharged from the Marines On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called on Washington to show "humanity" and release Yaroshenko "and other unjustly convicted" Russians. If so, it appears that Paul Whelan was blind to the threat. Family handout/AFP. ", US envoy visits spy suspect held in Russia, Brother of detained American speaks. Britains foreign secretary says that Russia is trying to use him as a pawn in its geopolitical games. When Whelan was arrested, the FSB found a USB drive in his pocket containing the classified information it alleges he had requested. It was noticeable, one such report said, that he chose only to befriend men and not "pretty Russian girls". Why is Paul Whelan imprisoned? Paul Whelan - Wikipedia Dan McCafferty Nazareth: Know Cause of Death! When we go to a meeting, prisoners were hidden from each other," Berg describes the lonely routine of life inside the K-shape jail, whose tall outer walls now butt-up against Soviet apartment blocks. The Russian government declared Paul Whelan guilty long ago. Whelan then spent over a decade working as a corporate security expert. He was discharged from the Marines for bad conduct in 2008 after being convicted of charges related to larceny, according to military and court records. Whelan's arrest comes just two weeks after alleged Russian spy Maria Butina pleaded guilty in the US to conspiracy charges. That was New Year's Eve 2018 and the start of a case that would embroil four western governments and pile pressure on relations with Russia that had already sunk to a post-Cold War low. At Kelly Services, his title was senior manager of global security and investigations. Paul Whelan was born in a British family in Canada and then shifted to the US during his childhood. Whelan received a "bad conduct discharge" from the Marines in 2008. "No-one's hiding that, everyone talks about it, all the officials," he told the press. "[46], Whelan is a citizen of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. But when I asked for his side of the story, his eyes flicked towards the guards. He was arrested in his room, just hours after showing some of the other wedding guests around the grounds of the Kremlin. By then, we'd learned that the American had visited Russia multiple times. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred, he said in a phone interview with CNN from the remote Russian penal colony where he is being detained. Whelan's case is a curious one as four different countries Canada, the U.S., Britain, and Ireland all claim him as a citizen, and each is seeking consular access. He left the company in 2016 and started working for BorgWarner, an Auburn Hills-based auto supplier, in 2017, according to company spokeswoman Kathy Graham. [14], On December 28, 2018, Whelan was arrested in the Moscow area by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), which later confirmed his arrest. Over the summer, reports indicated that the U.S. government was trying to negotiate the release of both Griner and Whelan in exchange for Bout. Irish officials say a man being detained by Russia, Paul Whelan, has requested help from the Irish government and report they will do what they can to come to his aid. I did not commit a crime," Whelan said, telling me that a friend had turned-up at his hotel that evening unannounced. "His experience of having already been to the Kremlin and having already walked around Red Square and navigating the metro, his friend felt Paul could assist a bunch of Americans who hadn't otherwise ever been to Moscow," David Whelan said. He took a military leave of absence from Kelly Services, he testified, to serve in Iraq. [32], On January 3, 2019, Whelan's attorney, Vladimir Zherebenko,[d] said he was seeking his release on bail. Why was Whelan rejected for the Prisoners swap? State TV crews, hovering for their shots in the hallway, were already referring to the accused man as "the American spy". A year later, just days before his arrest, Mr Whelan took "Dmitry" and another man for Christmas dinner at a restaurant opposite his hotel. His job at BorgWarner involves overseeingsecurity for "facilities, assets and people" in Auburn Hills and around the world, Graham said. "I remember making small talk once and I said, 'You travel a lot for work, where do you travel for fun? Russian authorities claim the 48-year-old American, who is being held in Lefortovo Prison, was working as a spy. [8] His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with the U.S. intelligence community, federal agents and foreign embassies. ", Zherebenko has worked on the high-profile international case of a Russian accused of. So, at a court hearing late last year, I raised my voice over a wall of bailiffs to ask him once again what had happened. WebHe was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and, a bad-conduct discharge. All rights reserved. [43] The Russian side insisted on the additional release of Vadim Krasikov, an assassin serving a life sentence for murder in Germany. He held the rank of staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38 working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and he was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Read about our approach to external linking. [47][48] His twin brother David ascribed Paul's acquisition of the multiple nationalities to "probably a genealogical interest as much as anything. David Whelan comments on his brother's arrest by Russian authorities. [4] In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother, Andrew, and a sister, Elizabeth. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Sky News on Friday that the British government is trying to help Paul Whelan. At the same time, Washington was still accusing Moscow of meddling in its elections. @dsgordon @nowthisnews Whelan's military record is rife with criminal activity which resulted in a Bad Conduct Discharge. Its very grim. How Crypto is Removed From Circulation. He'll need to buy things like razors, toilet paper, soap, things that would be on-hand anywhere else. The website content does support later descriptions of Paul Whelan by contacts, colleagues and family as an enthusiastic world traveller who "made friends pretty much everywhere" and had an interest in Russian culture. And while Paul Whelan's dishonourable discharge from the Marines shows there are parts of his life of which even his family have no idea, his supporters point to the theft charge as a positive. The Ex-Marine officer Whelan stated that he was in Russia to attend a friends wedding, and he knew that the flash drive contained some holiday photos he had received. The Russian described the two spending several days "touring Moscow" together, eating sushi and caviar-filled pancakes. In one email exchange during his early 2018 trip to Moscow, a relative joked: "Don't get into any trouble we can't get you out of, haha!". At the time of his arrest, he was corporate security director at BorgWarner, a Michigan-based automotive parts supplier. It said that information was the object of "intense interest" to the Americans, and that Whelan had been cultivating potential contacts, online, for over a decade. In 2008, Paul was discharged from the Marines for his Bad Conduct. Just as there are groupies for rock bands, sports teams, and politicians, Whelan was a FSB groupie. More: Paul Whelan's early life and the possibility of congressional intervention. Reuters. Whelan joked back then on his website, which has since been archived. [21], According to the Russian news agency Rosbalt[ru], Whelan was apprehended in his hotel room at the Metropol Hotel while concluding a long outing with a Russian citizen, who handed him a USB drive containing "a list of all the employees at a classified security agency". [7] A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor police department. His own cellmate in Lefortovo used to joke that the inmates were fed dog food in the mornings. Since his first visit in 2006, Mr Whelan made a number of other trips to Russia and developed an in-depth knowledge of the country. In 2001, Whelan began work at Kelly Services, a Troy-based company that offers consulting, temporary workers and workforce solutions to businesses around the world. [25], Whelan was being held in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison. Why did he face dishonorable discharge? "It all sounds incredibly nave now," his brother concedes of the relationship, after finally obtaining the passwords for Paul's computers and trawling through his files. Almost 18 months later, Whelan has been convicted of spying - receiving Russian state secrets - after a short trial conducted entirely behind closed doors. Former CIA officers have dismissed any suggestion that Whelan could be involved in something similar, operating without diplomatic immunity: the idea, floated by one retired Russian officer, that his arrest was a "great failure" of US intelligence. Published Jan 5, 2019 3:56 PM EST. Whelan worked as an administrative clerk and administrative chief and was deployed in "They don't want me to speak with you.". Almost two months had passed since his arrest, and he said he was coping "fine". Claim: Paul Whelan received a punitive discharge from the Marines. A Moscow hairdresser, meanwhile, was contacted by Whelan on Instagram around five years back. Another link leads to a homemade guide to the Cyrillic alphabet and some basic first words in Russian. Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Paul Whelan's Marine discharge was larceny related - Detroit Distributed byTribune Content Agency, LLC. Norway wasn't holding any convicted spies to trade and neither is America. Sharing pictures of the visit, he said he had a "quite enjoyable time" exploring the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg. The twin brother of the American man being held in Moscow on alleged spying charges is urging the U.S. government to help get his brother released. A city watching out for Russian and Chinese spies, Putin, power and poison: Russias elite FSB spy club, More than 20,000 Russians dead in Bakhmut, US says, France May Day protests leave dozens of police injured, 'Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Sudan'. [27], Former CIA officers have stated that the CIA would not recruit an officer with Whelan's military record, nor leave an officer exposed without a diplomatic passport. "Factbox: Paul Whelan, Ex-U.S. Marine Jailed in Russia on Spying Charges." Also Read Wisconsin Volleyball Team Leaked Nudes Reddit: Check Links for Pictures. One light remains on in the cell 24/7. At the time, there were uncorroborated reports he had been caught receiving a digital storage device containing a list of intelligence officials. [19] David said the family had not known Paul had a bad conduct discharge. The details of the charges against Whelan from a special court-martial two years later, which resulted in his discharge for bad conduct, add to an increasingly [3][6], According to a deposition Whelan gave in 2013, he was in law enforcement from 1988 to 2000 as a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff's deputy in Washtenaw County. Odds are he did something wrong. In 2008, Paul was discharged from the Marines for hisBad Conduct. U.S. military record convicting Paul Whelan of stealing $10,400 while at Al Asad air base, Iraq in 2006. pic.twitter.com/C9MVeHb5RK. Q1. American Who Loves Russia Ensnared in New Cold War", United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, "American Paul Whelan arrested in Russia on spy charges as potential retribution for Maria Butina", "Brother of American arrested in Russia on spy charges says he was there for a wedding", "American arrested in Russia on spying charges was there for a wedding", "Twin brother of Novi man accused of spying in Russia: He's innocent", " 16 ", "Jeremy Hunt warns Russia not to play 'diplomatic chess games' over British man arrested for spying", " , ", "The curious case of the ex-marine jailed for spying", "Russia keen to raise Paul Whelan's jail time to 18 years", "Ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan sentenced to 16 years jail in Russia", "Paul Whelan, American Accused of Spying by Russia, Thrown in Moscow's Most Infamous Dungeon", "Details of Russian obstruction paint bleak picture for American held in Moscow", "Russia's Arrest of Paul Whelan Is Payback for Maria Butina, CIA Veterans Say", "The President* Is So Hopelessly Compromised", "Ambassador Huntsman visits American detained in Moscow", "Russia allows U.S. ambassador to meet with detained American", "American detained by Russia was convicted of trying to steal thousands of dollars while deployed to Iraq as a Marine", "Seor K: Russia and Argentina split over mysterious drug smuggling case", "Paul Whelan, American Accused of Spying, Is Said to Be Charged in Russia", "US spy suspect found with Russian 'state secrets', lawyer says", "Moscow Accuses Washington of Detaining Russian Citizen After Whelan's Arrest", "Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage charges in Russia, gets 16-year prison sentence", "American Paul Whelan convicted of spying by Russia, gets 16 years in prison", "Russian court sentences US citizen Paul Whelan to 16 years in prison", "American Paul Whelan arrives at Russian penal colony after espionage conviction", "Paul Whelan: Grim life of US 'spy' in Russian labour camp", "Trevor Reed came back home, but Paul Whelan is still imprisoned in Russia", "CNN Exclusive: Biden administration offers convicted Russian arms dealer in exchange for Griner, Whelan", "In freeing Griner, Biden faced resistance abroad and at home", "Inside Biden's agonizing decision to take a deal that freed Brittney Griner but left Paul Whelan in Russia", "Griner's release puts a spotlight on Paul Whelan, another American imprisoned in Russia", "Ex-US marine accused of spying in Russia is British citizen", "US citizen held in Moscow seeks Irish consular aid", "Here's what we know about Paul Whelan, the US citizen accused of spying in Russia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Whelan_(security_director)&oldid=1152256903, American people convicted of spying for the United States, People with acquired American citizenship, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from December 2020, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 03:53. Coint, Prediction. He'd prepare a speech for each session, writing it out on a sheet of paper vetted and stamped by the prison censors. It is an extraordinarily long time. Russian media say Whelan has been formally indicted for spying and could face up to 20 years in prison. Paul Whelan So we were eligible for British and Canadian citizenship because we were born in Canada to British parents. Russia has angrily denied involvement in the poisonings. He was convicted at a special court-martial in January 2008 on several charges related to larceny and was given a bad-conduct discharge in December 2008 at the rank of private. He is currently facingChargesof16 years imprisonmentunder the IK-17 penal colony of the Mordovia region, located in east Moscow. The US government has been tight-lipped regarding efforts to release Mr Whelan. Paul Whelan is being held in the renovated wing, where the Norwegian says there is hot water in the cells now as well as a fridge, TV and toilet. It seems unusual behaviour if he was trying to recruit the man for US intelligence. We dont know exactly why [he hasnt been added], maybe because he is too valuable for the swap, and theyve decided to hold him for longer, she added. Russia argues that Butina is a political prisoner. "This is how FSB careers are made; people rise on the back of such cases, like mushrooms after the rain.". 2023 www.freep.com. (Courtesy of the Whelan Family via AP), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. AP NEWS, 8 Dec. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/brittney-griner-michigan-united-states-government-russia-bbf0c7e3029fea40d604b11fd271533f. He's someone I've known for ten years," he revealed for the first time. Whelan said in court that the case was a sham to use him to influence the United States: "We have proven my innocence we have proven fabrication. His website describes his "respect and admiration" for three Naval Academy graduates who'd just joined the Marines. Because Whelan received a bad conduct discharge, the claim that Paul Whelan received a punitive discharge from the Marines is "True.". ", US 'outraged' as Russia jails American for spying. "The intelligence community would never use someone with that past, especially in a situation like this when you'd be sent into a very, very difficult environment," argues Ryan Fayhee, the family's lawyer in the US who cites intelligence contacts from his days prosecuting cases of counter-espionage. "There's absolutely no reason he should have been in my room and no reason he should have given me any sort of device.". The news that Paul Whelan holds citizenship in four countries brings international pressure on Russia from several fronts. Read about our approach to external linking. The minute the American was convicted, the focus shifted to a possible prisoner swap. The company disclosed that it didnt have any facilities in Russia. He wondered whether some comment, or joke might have been disastrously misconstrued. They talked about foreign travel and never met. snopes.com on Twitter: " True. Paul Whelan received a "bad "That person was an FSB officer. And yet, unknown to those closest to him, Paul had been court-martialled for trying to steal more than $10,000 from the US government. A Twitter post by Benny Johnson states that President Biden chose Brittney Grinner in the prisoner swap over Paul Whelan. . "[4][f], Whelan was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988. Read about our approach to external linking. Concern for Whelan flared up again in November after he was not able to contact his family for more than a week and Russian authorities claimed he had been sent to a hospital. So he just thought it's an opportunity to have that, so why not? David Whelan, meanwhile, has dismissed the allegations as nonsense. The US Embassy and government have been very vocal about Whelan's detention. Whelan's own defence lawyer once hinted at that possibility. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. His job included campus security as well as electronic and IT-related security. Almost exactly a year before Paul Whelan's arrest, a Norwegian staying at the same central Moscow hotel was arrested and charged with espionage. [45], Whelan's brother David Whelan approved of the decision to "make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn't going to happen. Whelan received what is categorized broadly as a punitive discharge. He said the evidence was only ever examined by "incompetent and interested parties". Although we were only allowed to attend for the opening remarks, we managed to snatch several conversations with him. In December 2018, while on a trip to attend a friend's wedding in Russia, Whelan was detained by Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. 18 under supervision of the Russian Federation's Federal Penitentiary Service. Paul Whelan [23], According to Whelan, his long-time friend had appeared unexpectedly in the hotel, followed by authorities, who later arrested him. Some critics of Biden have faulted him for not bringing Whelan back, often citing Whelan's service in the Marines as part of that argument. Since late 2018, he has been held on espionage charges, which he denies. Alexei Tarasov, Viktor Bout's attorney, told Russian television that Mr Whelan wasn't included in the swap because the exchange was on a "one for one" basis. Here's what we know about Mr Whelan and his case. Why was Griner detained? Ivan Pavlov believes Whelan's claim he was framed is "always possible" with FSB intelligence officers. Trump deploys 80 US troops to Gabon in case 'violent demonstrations' occur after contentious presidential election, The U.S. military is warning that China's fishing boats are bullies and could start a war on the high seas, Here are 7 of the best weapons to have when you're up close and personal with the enemy, Navy SEAL accused of a brutal killing allegedly threatened to blackmail his teammates: 'I have s on all of you', Trump claimed ISIS was defeated just as the U.S. military was ramping up its strikes on ISIS militants in Syria. He was convicted at a special court-martial in January 2008 on several charges related to larceny and was given a bad-conduct discharge in December 2008 at the rank of private. "That early warning meant that our family has ben able to mentally prepare for what is now a public disappointment for us," the statement added. In a statement following Ms Griner's release, David Whelan said that the Biden administration warned the family ahead of time that Paul would not be released as part of the exchange.
paul whelan bad conduct discharge