nobody is here,
Thank you for sharing Christopher Burgess' remarks.
It's noteworthy, I think, that since his guilty plea, Peter Debbins has withdrawn his confession and attempted to appeal. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is keeping him under exceptionally harsh terms of confinement.
After Debbins was sentenced to 188 months' imprisonment in May 2021, I was interested to know what became of him and where he was being incarcerated. Perplexingly, a search of the federal Bureau of Prisons'
inmate locator web page for Peter Debbins for a long time showed zero results. I wondered whether perhaps his location was being concealed for some political reason, and whether he was perhaps being considered for a prisoner exchange with Russia.
This seems not to have been the case. A review of the
docket in Debbins' case shows that shortly after sentencing, in a letter sent from the Alexandria City Detention Center, he
attempted to withdraw his guilty plea and filed a
notice of appeal (later withdrawn).
By January 2022, Debbins was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy in Inez, Kentucky, from where on 16 July 2022 he filed a
"Request for a Court-Appointed Attorney to Assist with 2255 Motion" (a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct a prison sentence) in which he wrote, among other things, (hand printed in all caps):
Quote:...I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SECURE AN ATTORNEY DUE TO THE FACT THAT SINCE JANUARY 27, 2022 I HAVE BEEN UNDER SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES (SAM) PER THE REQUEST OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO THE BUREAU OF PRISONS (BOP). THE SAM HAS PLACED ME IN ISOLATION AND SEVERELY RESTRICTED MY COMMUNICATIONS AND ABILITY TO PREPARE MY 2255 MOTION, [unclear] MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
DURING THE PAST SIX MONHS I HAVE BEEN PROVIDED ONLY FOUR PHONE CALLS, AND ONLY ONE WAS WITH A POTENTIAL ATTORNEY, WHO HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY WITH OVER A TWO MONTH DELAY IN OBTAINING AUTHORIZATION TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME. I AM NOT ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER POTENTIAL ATTORNEYS....
On 4 August 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a
response in opposition to Debbins' motion that included two exhibits that were filed under seal. (With the exception of the indictment, none of the documents filed under seal in this case have been unsealed.)
On 27 December 2022, Debbins wrote to the court, informing it of his new address, the United States Prison, Florence ADMAX. He gave his address as:
Quote:PETER DEBBINS
05852509
ADX-FLORENCE, CONTROL UNIT
FLORENCE, COLORADO
This prison is generally recognized as the most restrictive in the federal prison system. It is not clear why Debbins has been incarcerated here.
On 25 August 2022, Debbins filed a
motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255, arguing that he "was suffering from untreated mental illness and had insufficient knowledge of the law." Debbins also argued that he had ineffective assistance of counsel and that his confession was coerced and involuntary. Debbins' main arguments are included in
a 19-page hand-written addendum, in which he writes, among other things (again in all caps):
Quote:COUNSEL FAILED TO FILE A MOTION TO SUPPRESS MY STATEMENTS. WITHOUT THE STATEMENT MADE TO THE FBI THERE ARE NO GROUNDS AGAINST ME. GIVEN THE TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES, I DID NOT MAKE THE CLAIMS KNOWINGLY AND WILLINGLY. A COMBINATION OF THE PRESSURES OF MY UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS, ECONOMIC COERCION, THE FBI'S POWER OF AUTHORITY, AND A WORKPLACE POLYGRAPH CREATED THE CONDITIONS IN WHICH MY FREE WILL WAS OVERBORNE AND I WAS COERCED INTO MAKING AN INVOLUNTARY AND FALSE CONFESSION.
HOW DID I MAKE THESE CLAIMS? IN JULY 2019 I HAD TO TAKE A PERIODIC POLYGRAPH WITH MY CONTRACT CLIENT, THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (DIA). THIS WAS NECESSARY FOR MY CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT, WHICH NEGATED MY FREE WILL. THE POLYGRAPH IS IN AND OF ITSELF A STRESS INDUCING EXERCISE. I WANTED TO PASS THE POLYGRAPH BUT WAS SUFFERING MENTAL ILLNESS AND BELIEVED THAT TELLING MY DELUSIONAL CLAIMS WOULD CALM ME, ALLOWING ME TO PASS—CLEARLY SHOWING A LACK OF KNOWINGNESS.
HOW DID THESE DELUSIONS COME ABOUT? WHEN ONE IS SUFFERING UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS REASON AND LOGIC ARE SEVERELY ATTENUATED. MY BEST UNDERSTANDING IS THAT PSYCHOSIS CAUSED ME TO BELIEVE THAT I BETRAYED MY FAITH, OUR COUNTRY, MY MEN, AND MY MISSION, AND DEPRESSION CAUSED ME TO OBSESS OVER THESE DELUSIONS AND OTHER IMAGINED FAILINGS. HOWEVER, PSYCHOSIS AND DEPRESSION DID NOT COMPEL ME TO CONFESS. I WAS COMPELLED BY A WORKPLACE POLYGRAPH. MENTAL ILLNESS WITH GOVERNMENT COERCION NEGATED MY KNOWLEDGE AND FREE WILL RENDERING MY CONFESSION AS INVOLUNTARY.
MY PSYCHOSIS WHICH DRAMATICALLY WORSENED AFTER 2014 CAUSED OBSCURE MEMORIES OF DRUNKEN MEETINGS WITH INNOCULOUS [sic] RUSSIANS TO MORPH INTO ENCOUNTERS WITH RISS [Russia's intelligence and security services] IN WHICH I TOLD NATIONAL DEFENSE INFORMATION AND MADE DECLARATIONS OF LOYALTY TO THE RUSSIAN STATE. WHEN YOU HAVE A CHEMICAL IMBALANCE YOUR MIND PLAYS TRICKS ON YOU. MY UNHEALTHY MIND WAS FERTILE GROUNDS FOR SUCH DELUSIONS TO EMERGE BECAUSE I TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY IN RUSSIA AND ENGAGED IN NUMEROUS SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, AND ACQUIRED VAST KNOWLEDGE OF INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS SINCE 2011.
THE DIA WAS ACTING AS A PRIVATE PARTY AS AN AGENT OF THE GOVERNMENT. IT IS A GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND IT DIRECTED ME TO SPEAK WITH THE FBI. I HAD THE ADDED COERCION OF BELIEVING I WAS UNDER ORDERS TO PROVIDE THE CLAIMS TO THE FBI. THE DIA CONTACTED THE FBI AND THE FBI CAME TO THE DIA OFFICES TO INTERROGATE ME, CAUSING ME TO BELIEVE THE FBI AND THE DIA WERE WORKING IN TANDEM. THE DIA AGENT TOLD ME NOT TO HIDE ANYTHING SUCH AS EMAILS AND I ALSO UNDERSTOOD THIS TO MEAN NOT TO WITHHOLD ANY CLAIMS FROM THE FBI. SINCE I BELIEVED THAT THE DIA SHARED MY CLAIMS WITH THE FBI I FELT COERCED INTO REPEATING THOSE CLAIMS TO THE FBI. I FEARED THAT IF MY CLAIMS DID NOT MATCH THAN [sic] THE FBI WOULD MAKE MY LIFE DIFFICULT TO INCLUDE POSSIBLE ARREST OR NEGATIVELY REPORTING TO THE DIA HINDERING MY CLEARANCE—A FORM OF ECONOMIC COERCION. DURING THESE INTERROGATIONS THE FBI DID NOT READ ME THE MIRANDA WARNING SO I WAS UNKNOWING OF THE LEGAL SITUATION I WAS IN. THE FBI TOLD ME THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT RISS ACTIVITIES WERE. SINCE BOTH DIA AND FBI HAVE A COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE MISSION I BELIEVED THE INTERROGATIONS WERE JOINT. IN FACT DURING ONE OF THE INTERROGATIONS I TOLD THE FBI TO READ THE WRITTEN CLAIMS I GAVE TO THE DIA SINCE IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO REMEMBER WHAT I ORIGINALLY TOLD THE DIA.
COUNSEL INCORRECTLY TOLD ME THAT MY STATEMENTS WERE VOLUNTARY SINCE I WASN'T IN CUSTODY.
THE ONLY TIME THE FBI READ ME A MIRANDA WARNING WAS AT THE OCTOBER 2019 FBI POLYGRAPH WHICH I BELIEVE DID NOT PRODUCE INCULPATORY CLAIMS. THE POLYGRAPH ASSESSED IF I WAS CREDIBLE WHEN I CLAIMED NO POST-2011 RISS CONTACT. THIS POLYGRAPH WAS TAKEN INVOLUNTARILY.
SINCE I UNDERSTOOD THAT THE DIA REQUIRED THE FBI INVESTIGATION FOR MY CLEARANCE HENCE MY EMPLOYMENT I WAS COERCED TO FULLY COOPERATE WITH THE FBI, SO I ANSWERED EVERY QUESTION AND AGREED TO EVERY REQUEST. I FEARED THAT FAILURE TO FULLY COOPERATE WOULD RESULT IN NEGATIVE ACTION. THE FBI QUICKLY INFORMED THE UNITED KINGDOM (UK) HOME OFFICE OF MY CASE AND THE HOME OFFICE EXECUTED A SEARCH WARRANT OF MY HOUSEHOLD AND MADE THREATENING STATEMENT [sic] TO MY WIFE. THE UK HOME OFFICE BARRED MY TRAVEL TO THE UK SO I COULD NOT BE WITH MY FAMILY. THE FBI ASKED ME TO SURRENDER MY PASSPORTS AND DELAYED IN RETURNING THEM TO ME WHEN I ASKED FOR THEM. UNDER THIS COERCION WITH MY MENTAL ILLNESS I WAS COMPELLED TO ANSWER EVERY QUESTION, AGREE TO ANY REQUEST, AND SHARE MY CLAIMS.
In short, Debbins is claiming that the admissions he made to having committed espionage on behalf of Russia are untrue, that he was not mentally competent at the time he pled guilty, and that he had ineffective assistance of counsel.
Ultimately, on 13 April 2023, Judge Claude M. Hilton, who presided over Debbins' trial and plea agreement,
ruled against Debbins in his 2255 motion.