Uhuru group members found guilty of conspiring with Russia against the U.S.

Four members of the Uhuru group, an american Pan-Africanist movement led by the Socialist Party of African Peoples and based in St. Petersburg, were found to have conspired with Russia to interfere in U.S. politics. According to evidence presented at a trial, the convicted men agreed to act on behalf of the Russian regime inside the United States.

"A jury today convicted Omali Yeshitela, 82, Penny Hess, 78, Jesse Nevel, 34, all of St. Louis, and Augustus C. Romain Jr., 38, of Atlanta, of conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government. The defendants were charged in a superseding indictment on April 13, 2023," the Justice Department explained in a statement.

Authorities explained that the defendants attempted to influence several local electoral processes in the United States. However, it is unclear whether they achieved their goals.

Similarly, the department highlighted that under the direction of Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, chairman of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), the subjects undertook several actions in the United States.

For example, evidence indicated that in August 2015, Ionov asked Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel to draft and publish a petition to the United Nations accusing the United States of committing alleged genocide against the African people. In addition, they pushed anti-U.S. narratives on other issues such as the situation in Ukraine.

In that regard, the department detailed that each defendant faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.