A Russian woman facing federal charges of lying to the FBI and transporting women for prostitution has avoided pre-trial imprisonment after a New York judge declined prosecutors’ requests to detain her. The case, marked by allegations of intoxicated late-night texting, possible links to Russian intelligence, and connections to a broader network of influence operations, has generated significant attention in both legal and political circles.

Nomma Zarubina, 34, was indicted last year for allegedly lying to FBI agents about her contacts with an officer in Russia’s powerful FSB intelligence service. According to prosecutors, she operated under the code name “Alyssa.” The allegations intensified in April 2025 when a grand jury expanded the indictment to include charges of transporting women across state lines for prostitution and lying on her US citizenship application.

The latest controversy in Zarubina’s case stemmed from a series of messages she sent to an FBI agent earlier this month. Prosecutors claimed that, in the early morning hours of September 13, Zarubina fired off nearly 50 texts to the case agent assigned to her file. Many of these messages, they said, contained a mix of incoherent ramblings, romantic overtures, and conspiratorial claims about sex trafficking and corruption within New York’s law enforcement community.

The communications violated the terms of her pretrial release. In July, US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain had already warned Zarubina to refrain from contacting FBI agents after an earlier episode of excessive messaging. At the time, Swain allowed her to remain free on the condition that she stop harassing investigators and seek........

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