Charles McGonigal, a former top FBI counterintelligence official, was sentenced on Friday to 28 months in prison for concealing at least $225,000 he received from an

Albanian businessman with connections to the Albanian government.

McGonigal, who oversaw counterintelligence and national security operations at the time, hid his relationship with the businessman from the FBI. He traveled with the businessman and engaged with Albanian officials on behalf of their mutual business interests.

Before being sentenced, McGonigal expressed remorse to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, stating, "For the rest of my life, I will be fighting to regain that trust and become a better person."

While acknowledging McGonigal's apparent remorse, Judge Kollar-Kotelly remarked that it did not repair the damage caused. She noted that the former high-ranking FBI official seemed to have "lost his moral compass" towards the end of his career.

McGonigal claimed that the $225,000 he received from the Albanian businessman was a loan intended to start a security consulting business after his retirement, but he never repaid the loan.

He pleaded guilty last year, admitting to failing to disclose the loan, his international travel, and his interactions with other Albanian officials.

Prosecutors in Washington D.C. sought a 30-month prison sentence, emphasizing in a court filing that McGonigal had "abused the public trust" for personal gain, which was particularly egregious given his role as a law enforcement officer.

In a separate case in New York last December, McGonigal was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia and launder money for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, whom he had previously investigated. Deripaska, linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was under sanction for his involvement in Russia's annexation of Crimea. Photo by Shinsuke Ikegame, Wikimedia commons.