“…He had a 15-yr relationship w/ Russian intel (since) 1996 when he was an exchange student from the Univ. of Minnesota & on a visit to Ru for an independent study program gave an alleged Ru handler the names of 4 Roman Catholic nuns he’d visited in Ru.” https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-seeks-17-year-sentence-for-former-green-beret-who-pleaded-guilty-to-spying-for-russia/31244022.html

“Two years prior, according to U.S. prosecutors, Debbins, whose mother was born in the Soviet Union, traveled to Russia for the first time and met his current wife in the central city of Chelyabinsk. Debbins’s father-in-law was a colonel in the Russian air force.”

“…Debbins joined the U.S. Army as an active duty officer in 1998 and served through 2005, the last two years as a Special Forces officer.”