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It’s been a while since we’ve heard from or thought about Anna Fermanova, the so-called “sexy Russian spy” from Plano who said she wasn’t (well, at least the spy part) but nevertheless pleaded guilty in January to a single count of violating the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. Today, though, there’s this breaking news: The 25-year-old would-be cosmetologist and CW33 entertainment reporter was just sentenced in New York to four months in federal prison, followed by four more months of home confinement. She has till December 5 to report, which means she’ll spend Hanukkah behind bars.
“She’s not so happy about going to prison, but all things considered I’m pretty pleased,” her attorney, Scott Palmer, tells Unfair Park from a Manhattan subway car. “She was looking at a 46- to 57-month guideline range, but 57 months was never realistic. But when you go from possibly four years to four months, that’s a dramatic cut. I commend the judge for analyzing the evidence and giving her what amounts to not a very long sentence.”
For those who don’t recall the Fermanova’s story, last year she was popped for trying to take into Russia three high-powered night-vision scopes, which she said were for a friend of her husband’s, a big-game hunter who lives in Russia. Problem is, that’s highly illegal — hence the four months in the federal pen and the $1,000 fine.
Palmer says that more than likely, Fermanova will be sent to one of the two federal prisons in Texas that take female prisoners — Carswell in Fort Worth or the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan. “And I think they’ll do the right thing,” Palmer says. “They want to keep people close to their families.”
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