Major Jamie Lee Henry and their wife, both doctors, have been indicted on charges of seeking to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. (Dr. Henry Photo: US Army) Anesthesiologist Dr. Anna Gabrielian. (Photo: US District Court of Maryland)
A former military doctor, believed to be the first openly trans officer in the U.S. Army, has been arrested and charged in an alleged plot to leak classified secrets to Russia to help give them the upper hand in their invasion of Ukraine.
Major Jamie Lee Henry, 39, and his wife Anna Gabrielian, 36, were indicted for conspiracy and for disclosing individually identifiable health information, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. They were arrested on Sept. 29.
According to CNBC, though Henry came out as transgender in 2015, he and Gabrielian recently used male pronouns to describe him.
Gabrielian, also a doctor, worked as an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins and one of the spoken languages her profile listed is Russian. Henry, who had a secret-level military security clearance, was a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The couple was busted in a sting by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that began on Aug. 17 when Gabrielian met with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian official.
According to the indictment, the couple had several follow-up meetings with the undercover agent, during which they explained why they desired to assist Russia.
“During that [first] meeting, Gabrielian told the UC she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia to provide any assistance she could to Russia, even if it meant being fired or going to jail,” the release states.
The release says Gabrielian also told the agent her husband was “a more important source for Russia than she was, because he had more helpful information, including how the United States military establishes an army hospital in war conditions and information about previous training provided by the United States military to Ukrainian military personnel.”
When the couple met the agent again, Henry was present and allegedly expressed his willingness to be a part of the plot. He also disclosed his desire to join the Russian army as a volunteer but noted they needed people with “combat experience,” and he didn’t have any.
“The way I am viewing what is going on in Ukraine now, is that the United States is using Ukrainians as a proxy for their own hatred toward Russia,” Henry allegedly told the agent.
The couple allegedly turned over information about military members’ health conditions and that of at least one member’s spouse, which they felt Russia could “exploit” to its benefit.
Henry and Gabrielian told the agent they wanted to have solid cover stories so Henry could have “plausible deniability” if questioned about Gabrielian’s actions, the indictment says.
They also asked the agent to remove their two children from the United States in the event of their arrest.
According to a report by Fox 5 News Baltimore, the couple was released on home detention and Gabrielian has a $500,000 unsecured bond.
Johns Hopkins said it had placed Gabrielian on leave. “We were shocked to learn about this news this morning and intend to fully cooperate with investigators,” spokeswoman Kim Hoppe told Fox 5.
