Jurors deliberating fate of Maryland doctors accused of providing patients' private medical files to Russia
BALTIMORE -- Doctors Anna Grabrielian and her husband Jamie Lee Henry had no comment as they walked out of Baltimore's federal courthouse Tuesday, where a jury is deciding their fate.
Their case went to the jurors late in the afternoon after hours of closing arguments where prosecutors argued the defendants were "ticking time bombs" and "long-term weapons for Russia" intent on providing medical information that country could "exploit."
The government accuses the defendants of conspiracy and providing private medical records for eight patients with ties to the military, claiming Henry, an Army Major, was "disgruntled" with his treatment in the service with and the United States' position on Russia.
His wife, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Russia, was an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Prosecutors allege she broke her oath to the United States and her oath as a doctor when she accessed some confidential medical records and was prepared to provide more to a woman she believed was a Russian intelligence agent who was really an undercover agent for the FBI.
"They were willing and able to assist Russia in any way they could," prosecutor Michael Cunningham said in his closing argument.
Rejecting the couple's defense, Cunningham said, "The complex story they want you to believe is the evil FBI entrapped them and caused them to commit criminal acts."
The government relied on hours of video from that undercover agent. She first reached out to Dr. Gabrielian after Gabrielian emailed the Russian embassy through her Johns Hopkins account offering assistance. Their first meeting was in a parking garage at the hospital as Gabrielian was heading to work.
"Just who the hell did she think would be at the other end?" Cunningham said to the jury.
Gabrielian, who testified in her own defense, said she simply wanted to provide humanitarian aid to Russia and feared the undercover agent would harm her family both in the United States and in Russia if she did not provide them with some information.
She claimed she gave the agent access to certain medical records even though she felt they were "useless."
"The only intent these two doctors had was to treat the sick, heal the wounded and save lives," Gabrielian's defense attorney Chris Mead told jurors in his closing.
He called the FBI's undercover operation "profoundly unfair" and said it was a crisis "of the government's own making."
Mead noted the prosecutors must prove the defendants intended to cause malicious harm and achieve personal gain in providing the medical records. "Is there any common sense? Where is the evidence this would hurt the United States in any way?" he asked the jury.
"Sometimes people make misjudgments, and this case is top to bottom full of misjudgments and shows a lack of empathy," Mead said of the government's case.
Prosecutors noted Henry is an active-duty member of the U.S. military and "never once discussed going to the authorities" about his fears about a Russian agent. He held positions at Walter Reed and Fort Bragg.
Jurors deliberated only briefly Monday afternoon and are expected to resume their deliberations Wednesday morning.
Stay with WJZ as we continue to follow developments in the case.
