BALTIMORE — A pair of Maryland doctors accused of conspiring to assist Russia are set to stand trial in federal court for a second time in November following a mistrial earlier this month.
The retrial of Dr. Anna Gabrielian and her spouse, Dr. Jamie Lee Henry, is scheduled for eight days beginning Nov. 27, according to an order from U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher.
Within hours of Gallagher declaring a mistrial on account of a deadlocked jury June 1, federal prosecutors formally vowed to retry the doctors as soon as the court’s schedule allowed.
Gabrielian, who was an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins, and Henry, a physician and major in the U.S. Army, remain charged with conspiring to aid Russia shortly after its invasion of Ukraine and with providing the health information of several patients. In sum, the offenses carry maximum penalties of decades in prison.
At trial, the government portrayed the doctors as disloyal citizens who were prepared to assist an American adversary that was launching a widely denounced war. However, attorneys for Gabrielian and Henry said the government, which utilized an undercover FBI agent to collect evidence, coerced their clients into committing crimes they otherwise wouldn’t have — a defense known as “entrapment.”
“Dr. Henry again looks forward to challenging the Government’s allegations at trial before a jury of his peers,” David Walsh-Little, Henry’s attorney, said in an email.
Reached by phone, Gabrielian’s lawyer, Christopher Mead, declined to comment.
Five days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Gabrielian, an American citizen who was born in Russia, wrote emails to the Russian embassy and a medical school in Moscow identifying her and Henry as doctors who were prepared to help stem the bloodshed. The emails, innocuous by the lead agent’s own characterization at trial, eventually spawned a federal investigation.
FBI special agent Matthew Walker, who led the investigation, said the agency’s concerns about Gabrielian’s emails grew when investigators realized she was married to an active duty military member. The FBI deployed an undercover agent posing as a Russian government official to meet with Gabrielian and, eventually, to ask her and Henry to provide patient records.
After several meetings with the agent, Gabrielian and Henry provided medical records for eight patients. The disclosures violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects patient privacy.
Prosecutors charged them with felony violations of that federal law, saying they disclosed the records for personal gain or with the intention of causing “malicious harm” to America.
Gabrielian testified at trial about her conflicting emotions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She said she empathized with the Ukrainian people, but also for young Russian soldiers and civilians who may not support the authoritarian regime. She said she only intended to provide medical aid, for soldiers or civilians, and did not want Russia’s doctors to be isolated from the international medical community.
Originally under the impression she was meeting with a Russian embassy official, Gabrielian testified, she grew to believe the undercover FBI agent was a Russian intelligence officer. She said she feared retribution against her and her family, members of which still lived in Russia and Ukraine, if she didn’t comply with the agent’s requests.
After two days of deliberating, the jury was at an impasse on the issue of entrapment. One juror believed the defense theory; the 11 others did not.
According to Gallagher’s recent order, a pretrial conference is scheduled for Nov. 13.
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