The Justice Department said four black civil rights activists have been convicted on federal charges for acting as unregistered Russian agents.
The department said in a statement that O'Malley Yesitela, 82, Penny Hess, 78, Jessie Nebel, 34, and Augustus Romain, 38, face up to five years in prison.
A jury in Tampa, Florida, found them not guilty of the more serious charge of acting as agents of a foreign government.
Yesitela is the founder of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement. Hess and Nevel are the group's white allies. Romain is the leader of the Georgia-based faction known as the Black Hammer.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to prosecutors, the four carried out various activities in the United States on behalf of the Russian government between 2015 and 2022, receiving funding and support from Alexander Ionov, the head of the Moscow-based anti-globalization movement in Russia.
Mr. Ionov said APSP, the Uhuru Movement and Black Hammer were used to promote Russian views on politics, the war in Ukraine and other issues.
The Justice Department said Ionov's influence efforts were “directed and overseen by the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the Russian intelligence agency.”
Mr. Ionov and alleged FSB agents Alexei Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov were also indicted in the United States in connection with the case, but have not been arrested.
The Justice Department said the Americans all knew that Mr. Ionov was working for the Russian government.
Among the actions cited by prosecutors was a 2015 petition by APSP to the United Nations accusing the United States of genocide against Africans.
Mr. Ionov was also accused of trying to influence Nevel's 2017 unsuccessful mayoral election in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Hess' attorney, Leonard Goodman, told the Tampa Bay Times that the four were accused of censoring pro-Russian views. “This case has always been about free speech,” he told AFP.
“The most important thing is that they can’t convict us of working for anybody but black people,” Yestela said after her conviction, the Tampa Bay Times reported. “I’m willing to be charged and convicted of working for black people.”
Mutaki Akbar, representing Nevel, said the defendants plan to appeal the convictions.
