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Four Black rights activists were convicted on federal charges of conspiring to act as unregistered Russian agents, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday. The defendants, Omali Yeshitela, 82, Penny Hess, 78, Jesse Nevel, 34, and Augustus Romain Jr., 38, now face up to five years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been determined.
The jury in Tampa, Florida, cleared the four of the more serious charge of acting as agents of a foreign government. Yeshitela is the founder of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and Uhuru Movement, with Hess and Nevel serving as white allies of the group. Romain leads a Georgia-based spinoff known as Black Hammer.
Prosecutors argued that the activists worked between 2015 and 2022 in the U.S. on behalf of the Russian government, receiving financial support from Aleksandr Ionov, president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia. According to the prosecution, Ionov used the APSP, Uhuru Movement, and Black Hammer to spread Russian propaganda on topics including U.S. politics and the war in Ukraine.
“Ionov’s influence efforts were directed and supervised” by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the Justice Department said in a statement.
Although Ionov, along with two alleged FSB agents, Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov, have been indicted in connection with the case, none are currently in U.S. custody.
One key action cited by prosecutors was a petition drafted by APSP in 2015, accusing the United States of committing genocide against African people. Additionally, Ionov allegedly attempted to influence the 2017 mayoral race in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Nevel was a candidate.
Leonard Goodman, attorney for Hess, defended the activists, claiming the case is an effort to silence their pro-Russian views. “This case has always been about free speech,” Goodman told the Tampa Bay Times.
