Mistrial Declared in Criminal HIPAA Prosecution of Couple Who Disclosed PHI to Undercover FBI Agent
The prosecution of two doctors accused of criminal HIPAA violations and conspiring with the Russian government has ended in a mistrial as the jury could not reach a unanimous guilty verdict. Dr. Anna Gabrielian. 37, a former anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins, and her spouse, Jamie Lee Henry, 40, a doctor and U.S. Army Major previously stationed at Fort Bragg, were indicted on September 28, 2022, and charged with conspiracy to assist Russia with its invasion of Ukraine and criminal HIPAA violations for wrongfully disclosing the personally identifiable health information of individuals to someone they believed to be a Russian agent.
In an eight-count indictment, the couple was alleged to have conspired to cause harm to the United States by providing the sensitive information of U.S. citizens associated with the U.S. government and military to Russia. The disclosures started on August 17, 2022, when information was passed to an individual who they believed to be a Russian agent. The disclosures served as confirmation of Henry’s secret-level security clearance and the couple’s willingness to work with a Russian operative and provide medical information that could potentially be exploited by the Russian government.
Gabrielian had sent an email from her work email account to the Russian embassy offering medical collaboration and humanitarian aid to Russia in response to the war with Ukraine. The message was obtained by the FBI, which sent an undercover agent posing as a Russian operative to meet with Gabrielian. In the meeting, Gabrielian told the agent that her husband was a more important source for Russia as he had access to more valuable information, then arranged to meet with the undercover agent with her husband.
The undercover agent recorded over 5 hours of conversations over the series of meetings in which the couple claimed they wanted to help Russia. Henry admitted that he had attempted to sign up as a volunteer in the Russian Army but was turned down due to his lack of combat experience. Henry agreed to provide the medical records of Fort Bragg patients to the agent. In a subsequent meeting, Gabrielian provided the agent with the health information of two individuals, including the spouse of an employee of the Office of Naval Intelligence, whom Gabrielian pointed out had a medical condition Russia could exploit. Henry provided information on five individuals who were military veterans or related to military veterans. The couple faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for the criminal HIPAA violation – accessing and disclosing medical records without authorization – and a maximum of 5 years in jail for the conspiracy charge.
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At the trial, Gabrielian testified that she disclosed the information because she feared for her life and the lives of her family in the United States and Russia if she did not cooperate. She also testified that she saw the camera worn by the agent and asked if she was being recorded, which led to her believing she was in danger. She claimed that she provided two records to the agent as a test of loyalty, but thought the two records would be useless to the Russian government, as were the records disclosed by Henry.
The legal team for the doctors argued that while the agent did not overtly threaten them, and only implied that they worked for the KGB, the doctors were fearful of what would happen if they said no to a KGB operative and said their intention was only to help heal the sick and treat the wounded, arguing that this was a crime created by the U.S. government. The prosecution argued that the two doctors wanted to be long-term weapons for Russia and there was no merit to the claims they were entrapped by the FBI.
After two and a half days of deliberation, the jury told U.S. District Court Judge, Stephanie Gallagher, that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict because one juror believed the doctors were entrapped by the FBI, leaving Gallagher with no option other than to declare a mistrial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has confirmed that it will seek a retrial.
