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Federal prosecutors recommended a 17-year sentence for a former U.S. Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty in November to conspiring with Russian intelligence sources dating as far back as the 1990s.
The recommendation was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, following 45-year-old Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins’s guilty plea to a charge under the federal Espionage Act.
"Debbins, who has family ties to Russia, committed the offense for primarily ideological reasons: he considered himself a ‘loyal son’ of Russia and believed that America needed to be ‘cut down to size,’" the court filing reads, according to Stars and Stripes, which first reported about the recommendation.
Debbins, of Gainesville, Virginia, had a 15-year relationship with Russian intelligence starting in 1996 when he was a U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) student at the University of Minnesota and on a visit to Russia for an independent study program. He gave a handler there the names of four Roman Catholic nuns he had visited, according to the Justice Department. Shortly thereafter, Russian agents assigned him a code name.
EX-ARMY GREEN BERET PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRING WITH RUSSIANS
Debbins' mother was born in the former Soviet Union, and Debbins met his wife in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, where they were married in 1997, according to the indictment.
In a statement of facts made public last November, Debbins admitted he held pro-Russian and anti-American political views. He also admitted he was motivated in part by bitterness over his Army service and the potential opportunities to make business contacts in Russia.
Debbins told Russian intelligence he "thought that the United States was too dominant in the world and needed to be cut down to size," according to the indictment.
This file booking photo provided by the Alexandria, Va, Sheriff's Office, shows Peter Debbins, a former Army Green Beret who pleaded guilty Nov. 18, 2020, to divulging military secrets to Russia. (Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP)
In a separate filing, the defense attorney representing Debbins asked the court for leniency, arguing his client is a man with psychological pathologies who felt trapped by circumstances, including attraction to the same sex, which he feared Russians might use against him to destroy his Army career during the "don’t ask, don’t tell" era, according to Stars and Stripes.
Debbins’ indictment alleges he provided information and names of his fellow Special Forces members while he was on assignment in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
He served in the Army as an active-duty officer between 1998 and 2005 – the last two years as a Special Forces officer. He was discharged and lost security clearance after violating protocols while on assignment in Azerbaijan. As a civilian, he worked for military contractors in counterintelligence roles.
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Though the maximum sentence for an espionage charge is life in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors recommended a lower penalty due to Debbins’ "early acceptance of responsibility." Though 17 years behind bars still "reflects the seriousness of the offense" and sends a "clear deterrent message to other servicemembers" who might consider betraying their country, prosecutors said.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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