A years-long FBI investigation into a Belarusian woman accused of smuggling American aviation equipment and electronics into Russia is at risk of collapsing thanks to the Trump administration\u2019s simultaneous attempts to deport her.<\/a><\/p>\n Federal prosecutors spent more than a year trying to extradite Yana Leonova to the United States to face a raft of criminal charges, including fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.<\/p>\n But immigration officials<\/a> abruptly issued an order for her detention and removal soon after she was flown into the country last month, catching prosecutors by surprise in what a federal judge called another \u201cKafkaesque\u201d case tangled up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s vast mass deportation campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, it is both preposterous and offensive for the government to bring someone into the United States against their will and then turn around and seek ICE detention because that person is here \u2018illegally,\u2019\u201d Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui wrote last week.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe government needs to decide what its priorities are: ginning up deportation stats or prosecuting alleged criminals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n ICE intends to re-arrest and deport a Belarusian woman accused of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in a long-running criminal case brought by U.S. authorities. (AP)<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s administration intends to take Leonova into custody and begin deportation proceedings if she is released from pretrial detention, an arrangement that the judge questioned why the government would expend \u201ccountless resources\u201d to bring her into the country \u201cwhen the other arm would then seek to mindlessly deport her.\u201d<\/p>\n But government attorneys are asking Homeland Security to give her temporary legal authorization to stay in the country while facing criminal charges that were unsealed last year. She was extradited to the United States from France in November.<\/p>\n That request is still pending.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government cannot back door its way into a finding of flight risk because of deportation proceedings the government is initiating,\u201d Faruqui wrote last week. \u201cIndeed, there is an easy way to mitigate this flight risk: do not deport pending criminal prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The years-long investigation and extradition of Yana Leonova to the United States could fall apart thanks to mass deportation efforts under the agency led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. (REUTERS)<\/p>\n Leonova was arrested in September 2024 after her arrival in France, where she spent several weeks in jail and roughly one year in home detention. She has been detained inside a jail in Washington, D.C., since her extradition to the United States last month.<\/p>\n A federal indictment<\/a> alleges that Leonova \u201cprocured and illicitly exported\u201d aviation equipment from the United States into Russia, where the items were used on private aircraft for her employer during Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n Leonova and her co-conspirators allegedly bought the components from U.S.-based distributors, then shipped the components to Russia through intermediary destinations without the knowledge or approval of the Department of Commerce.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FBI has made it a top priority to keep U.S. technology from making its way into our adversaries\u2019 hands, and we ask all our private sector partners to remember the critical role they play in safeguarding our national security by reporting violations,\u201d FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the Counterintelligence Division said in a statement at the time of the indictment. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd to anyone considering helping a hostile nation-state obtain export-controlled technology, let today\u2019s charges serve as a warning to you: the FBI and our partners will find you, no matter where you are, and bring you to justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Faruqui has called Leonov a \u201cprime candidate for release\u201d while awaiting trial, noting that she does not have any prior criminal record and has an \u201cexemplary record\u201d of court-ordered conditions, including her long stay in home detention in France.<\/p>\n But if Leonova were moved into a court-approved home in New Jersey, which the judge has found \u201ccredible,\u201d immigration officials have suggested detaining her within 48 hours of her release, according to The Washington Post, which first reported<\/a> her case.<\/p>\n If that were to happen, prosecutors would not only be battling her case in federal court but seeking her release from immigration court, which operates under the Department of Justice and direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi.<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors would also have little, if any, chance of getting her back to face criminal charges, if she is deported to her home country. Belarus and Russia do not have extradition agreements with the United States.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Neither Russia nor Belarus have extradition agreements with the US, making it virtually impossible for federal prosecutors to get Yana Leonova back to the country if she is deported. (AP)<\/p>\n![\"ICE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ICEBlock-App-Trump-nh4701vd.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/U-S--President-Donald-Trump-at-the-White-House-in-Washington-qtointkl.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Neither](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Kyrgyzstan-Russia-Belarus-dyp8kafs.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n