Hopkins doctor and Army spouse federally charged with trying to pass information to Russians
A Baltimore anesthesiologist and her U.S. Army major spouse were federally indicted Wednesday in an alleged conspiracy to disclose health information to the Russian government to assist its war in Ukraine.
Dr. Anna Gabrielian, 36, and Maj. Jamie Lee Henry, 39 and also a medical doctor, face eight counts, including conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information. The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court.
Records at the Maryland Board of Physicians show Gabrielian’s and Henry’s primary practices are at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The indictment, however, said at the time of the alleged conspiracy that Henry was a staff internist stationed at Fort Bragg, an Army installation in North Carolina and home of U.S. Army Special Operations Command where Henry had secret-level security clearance.
The indictment says the pair, who live in Rockville, sought to pass federally protected medical information to an undercover FBI agent who Gabrielian believed worked at the Russian Embassy about patients at Fort Bragg and others, as well as provide information about U.S. medical capabilities in war conditions.
The indictment said Gabrielian told the agent 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 indictment does not explain Gabrielian’s connection to Russia, but Johns Hopkins’ website said she speaks Russian.
If convicted, the couple face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy and a maximum of 10 years for each count of disclosing protected health information.
The indictment was unsealed after both were arrested Thursday, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, which announced the indictment along with the FBI Baltimore field office.
Gabrielian and Henry had initial appearances Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Both were released on home detention with location monitoring. Gabrielian also was released on a $500,000 bond.
Hopkins did not respond to questions about the couple’s employment status, but Kim Hoppe, a spokeswoman, said: “We were shocked to learn about this news this morning and intend to fully cooperate with investigators.”
Gabrielian’s Hopkins online profile lists her as an instructor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine. Henry did not appear to have a current profile.
The indictment says that beginning on Aug. 17 they conspired “to cause harm to the United States by providing confidential health information of Americans associated with the United States government and military to Russia.”
The information was offered, the indictment says, to demonstrate their access to health information of Americans, their willingness to provide it to the Russian government and the potential for the Russians to gain insights into medical conditions of people in U.S. government and the U.S. military for the Russians to exploit
The indictment says Gabrielian reached out to the Russian embassy by email and phone offering her and Henry’s help. Since then the couple met twice with someone at a Baltimore hotel who they thought represented the government but was the undercover FBI agent. Henry also indicated in the meeting a willingness to volunteer for the Russian military in Ukraine but lacked combat experience.
While the indictment said they wanted “plausible deniability” if they were confronted by U.S. authorities, they nonetheless asked that, if they were arrested, Gabrielian wanted their children to “have a nice flight to Turkey to go on vacation because I don’t want to end in jail here with my kids being hostages over my head.”
On Aug. 31, the indictment says, Gabrielian and Henry met with the agent in a Gaithersburg hotel and provided health records for two people, including the spouse of an employee of the Office of Naval Intelligence, who Gabrielian thought had a medical condition Russia could exploit. Henry, the indictment said, provided health records for five other people who were military veterans or relatives.
Someone answering the phone in the Silver Spring law office of Teresa Whalen, Gabrielian’s attorney, said the attorney was out of town and not responding to any inquiries.
Henry’s attorney, David Walsh Little of Baltimore, would not address the allegations in the indictment but said, “Dr. Henry had his initial appearance this afternoon and thankfully he was released to home detention.”
Henry has been referred to in several news articles since 2015 as the Army’s first openly transgender active duty officer.
Baltimore Sun reporter Lee O. Sanderlin contributed to this article.
