Former high-ranking FBI official Charles McGonigal has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and to laundering money by secretly working on behalf of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. McGonigal, who was the former chief of counterintelligence in the FBI's New York City office, settled his case with federal prosecutors by pleading guilty to one count. He faces up to five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14. According to prosecutors, McGonigal's involvement with Deripaska took place over several months in 2021, three years after his retirement from the FBI. McGonigal admitted to receiving $17,500 from Deripaska, who was added to the U.S. government's sanctions list in 2018. Prosecutors also revealed that McGonigal was in negotiations to search for hidden assets belonging to a Deripaska rival in exchange for a payment of up to $3 million. McGonigal still has pending federal charges in Washington for allegedly taking bribes while working for the FBI.