A federal jury in St. Louis, Missouri has convicted Omali Yeshitela, 82, of conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government.
The conviction stems from a superseding indictment filed on April 13, 2023, which charged Yeshitela, along with Penny Hess, 78, Jesse Nevel, 34, and Augustus C. Romain Jr., 38, of Atlanta, Georgia, with conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government.
According to evidence presented at trial, from at least May 2015 until July 2022, Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel agreed to act on behalf of the Russian government within the United States.
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a resident of Moscow, was the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), an organization headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and funded by the Russian government.
Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess, and Jesse Nevel were leaders of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) or components thereof. Augustus C. Romain was a high-level leader of the APSP who, in November 2018, left and formed a Georgia-based group called the Black Hammer.
Ionov’s influence efforts were directed and supervised by Moscow-based Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, including indicted defendants Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov.
In May 2015, Ionov invited Yeshitela to Russia for an all-expenses paid trip to “communicate on future cooperation.” Prior to this trip, Hess relayed a request to Ionov to ensure that Yeshitela would be able to meet with an “official representative of the Russian government.”
According to subsequent email communications, which were shared with Hess, Nevel, and Romain, Yeshitela explained that it was “clear” that Ionov was an instrument of the Russian government. In these same communications, Yeshitela further explained that Ionov represented “a method by which the Russian government is engaging the U.S. and Europe in serious struggle” by utilizing “forces inside of the U.S. to s[o]w division inside the U.S.”
Acting under Ionov’s direction, the defendants took several actions within the United States. For example, in August 2015, Ionov requested that Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel draft and publish a petition to the United Nations charging the United States with actively committing genocide against African people.
When Hess resisted, Ionov insisted that the APSP had to publish the petition because Ionov and his Russian backers were “not exactly Black to demand it for ourselves.” Hess subsequently drafted and published the requested petition, which Ionov promoted in Russian media.
In January 2016, Ionov provided a $12,000 guarantee letter to fund a four-city tour to promote the genocide petition that the APSP had published at his direction. Yeshitela and Hess oversaw the tour and reported information about the tour to Ionov.
After the tour, Yeshitela explained in an APSP meeting that the APSP had “developed a relationship with forces in Russia who are involved in their own struggle with the US.”
In 2017, and again in 2019, Ionov attempted to influence local elections in St. Petersburg, Florida, on behalf of the FSB, although there is no evidence that he succeeded in doing so.
For example, in July 2017, Ionov reached out to Nevel —who was a candidate for Mayor in St. Petersburg — to offer support, including “campaign finance.”
In 2019, Ionov regularly reported to the FSB concerning an election for local office in St. Petersburg, referring to one candidate as the candidate “whom we supervise.”
And, in January 2020, FSB Officer Popov directed Ionov that the United States’ 2020 Presidential election was the FSB’s “main topic of the year.”
In April 2020, Ionov invited Nevel and Yeshitela to speak at a conference to promote the right of self-determination for Russian-backed secessionist movements in eastern Ukraine.
Shortly thereafter, Yeshitela provided a video-recorded statement of support for the Russian-backed secessionist movements.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government. The conviction is a reminder that the United States will not tolerate foreign interference in our domestic affairs.
Related Federal Cases
- Mariia Butina, Conspiracy to Act as a Foreign Agent, District of Columbia 2018 · Maryland
- Brandon R. Haywood, Drug Trafficking and Firearms Offenses, Missouri 2025 · Georgia
- Raj Chauhan, Wire Fraud, Missouri 2026 · Kansas
- Tremaine Grant, Drug Conspiracy, Savannah GA, 2023 · Massachusetts
- Marlene Barkheimer, FDIC Advisory Committee Appointment, Washington 2023 · Massachusetts
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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