by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | October 03, 2022
A married anesthesiologist and former army doctor attempted to supply Russia with health information belonging to U.S. military personnel and their spouses.
An anesthesiologist and her partner have been charged with allegedly plotting to hand over highly sensitive healthcare data on military patients to Russia.
Dr. Anna Gabrielian and former army major Jamie Lee Henry supplied medical records for current military officials from Fort Bragg and their spouses to an individual they believed was a Russian official but was actually an undercover FBI agent,
reported Reuters.
The two, who are married and live in Rockville, Maryland, said they were helping Russia in its invasion of Ukraine by providing “insights into the medical conditions of individuals associated with the U.S. government and military,” according to an unsealed, eight-count indictment filed in federal court in Maryland.
They are charged with conspiracy and wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information.
Gabrielian works at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Henry is a former staff internist at Fort Bragg, the largest military post in the U.S. A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins said that the hospital was “shocked” to learn about this news and “intends to fully cooperate with investigators.”
In 2015, Henry became the first active-duty army officer to come out as transgender,
according to CNBC. But when appearing in court alongside Gabrielian on September 29, they used male pronouns instead. The indictment also used “he” to describe them.
Gabrielian met with the agent in August, saying “she was motivated by patriotism toward Russia” to help it, even if she was fired or went to jail, according to the indictment. She also said her husband “had more helpful information” about U.S. military hospitals in war conditions and previous training the army provided to Ukrainian military personnel.
Henry told the agent they were committed and had contemplated volunteering for the Russian army. "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," they said, according to prosecutors.
While concerned about violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Henry supplied information on a current Defense Department employee, a retired Army veteran, the spouse of an Army veteran, and the spouse of two deceased Army veterans.
Gabrielian said she had no problem with going against HIPAA and provided records of “the spouse of a person currently employed by the Office of Naval Intelligence,” and “highlighted to the [agent] a medical issue reflected in the records [of that person] that Russia could exploit,” said the indictment.
Magistrate Judge Brandan Hurston released Gabrielian on an unsecured $500,000 bond into home detention, with electronic monitoring. Henry was also released without bond into home detention and with electronic monitoring.
The two face a maximum of 10 years in prison for conspiracy and five years for disclosing individually identifiable health information.
Henry’s attorney, David Little, refused to comment on the charges. Reuters was unable to reach Gabrielian’s attorney.
