Who is Paul Whelan? Biden administration offers deal to free ex-marine officer jailed in Russia

On February 27, 2022, the Biden administration offered to free Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for ex-marine Paul Whelan and basketball star Brittney Griner.

Paul Whelan was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Services in Moscow on December 28, 2018, on suspicion of being a spy for the US government. According to the Detroit Free Press, Whelan was in Moscow to attend the wedding of another former marine.

Russian outlet Rosbalt alleged that during his stay in Russia, Whelen had accepted a USB containing sensitive information that identified employees at a classified Russian Security Agency. He was convicted of espionage on June 15, 2020.

The Russian government sentenced Paul Whelan to 16 years in prison with the possibility that he may have to serve in a labor camp.

Brittney Grier, the WNBA star who is also part of the exchange, was arrested on February 17, 2022, for the possession of hash oil. Her trial began on June 27.

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All there is to know about Paul Whelan

Paul Whelan was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1970. His parents had British and Irish heritage. He has American, Canadian, British and Irish citizenship. After his arrest, he requested help from all four countries.

According to the Washington Post, Whelan enlisted in the US Marine Reserves in 1994, eventually going on to serve as a staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38 in Iraq. He received a bad conduct discharge in 2008, as he was accused of larceny-related charges by a military court.

Whelan also served as a police officer in Michigan. In an official release, Chelsea Police stated that he had been a part-time officer with them for 6 years, from 1990 to 1996.

The Daily Beast reported that after his career in law enforcement and the military ended, Paul Whelan worked in jobs related to global security for office staffing firm Kelly Services, as well as the automative parts manufacturer Bogwarner. BBC reported that he frequently visited Russia during this time, where he began to learn the language.

After his 2018 arrest in Moscow, speculation began as to whether Whelan was truly serving as a spy, or just a tool for political leverage amidst rising tension between the US and Russian governments.

Whelan's attorney, Vladimir Zherebenkov, claimed the arrest was a consequence of political scheming. He said that while Whelan had received a USB, he was unaware of its contents. He said:

"I presume that he is innocent because, for now, I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise."

The proposal to exchange prisoners has also sparked further controversy due to the serious nature of the alleged crimes perpetrated by Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who has been held in the United States Penitentiary, Marion, since 2012. Bout is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.

In 2011, Bout was convicted by a Manhattan court for attempting to sell anti-aircraft missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a leftist geurrilla group based in South America.

This will be the second such deal between the United States and Russia. Earlier this year, former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed was freed from a Russian prison, after two years of imprisonment, in exchange for the U.S. releasing Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot.

Reed was accused of assaulting a Russian officer and was detained by authorities there in 2019. He was later sentenced to nine years in prison. Yaroshenko was serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States.