St. Petersburg Uhuru members indicted in Russian influence case

TAMPA — A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses members of the St. Petersburg-based Uhuru Movement of working on behalf of the Russian government in a campaign to sow discord, spread pro-Russian propaganda and influence local elections.

Omali Yeshitela, the longtime leader of the Uhurus and the chairperson and founder of the African People’s Socialist Party, is among the defendants, along with Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel and former Uhuru member Augustus C. Romain Jr. — known as Gazi Kodzo.

The four are accused of plotting with Russian nationals to act as agents of Russia in the U.S. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel are also charged with acting as Russian agents in the U.S. without notifying the attorney general, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

“At the advice of my attorney, I am unable to make a statement or comment on the current indictment,” Yeshitela said in statement. “However, I am looking forward to my day in court.”

Messages left on phone numbers listed for Hess and Nevel were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

None of the local defendants was in law enforcement custody Tuesday. Kodzo, who is also facing an unrelated state-level kidnapping charge in Fayetteville, Georgia, was scheduled for a court appearance in Atlanta on Tuesday.

“The federal allegations about potential Russian interference are troubling,” St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said in a statement. “It is important to underscore that the City of St. Petersburg does not support, condone or tolerate any foreign government engaging in activities to undermine or influence our elections.”

Welch added that the city would continue to monitor the federal investigation.

A federal grand jury handed up the indictment Thursday, but it remained confidential until this week.

It follows an earlier indictment against Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, who was charged last July with orchestrating a foreign malign influence campaign that used American political groups and sought to interfere in U.S. elections. His efforts began in 2014 and ended in July, according to federal prosecutors.

Ionov founded the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, an organization funded by that country’s government.

The new indictment also names Aleksey Borisovich Sukhodolov and Yegor Sergeyevich Popov, who are identified as intelligence officers in the Russian Federal Security Service. They are accused of directing and supervising Ionov’s efforts.

Ionov recruited members of American political groups to participate in his influence campaign and act as agents of Russia, federal prosecutors allege. He recruited groups that promoted secessionist ideologies, coordinating and funding their activities, with the goal of furthering Russian interests.

The groups he used included the African People’s Socialist Party and its activist arm, known as the Uhuru Movement.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Yeshitela founded the African People’s Socialist Party in 1972. The Uhuru Movement became the group’s activist arm in the early 1990s. Members have for decades protested against racism, capitalism and colonialism and in support of reparations for Black people.

In St. Petersburg, they have historically pressed public officials to right wrongs committed against Black residents. They’ve played a significant role in protests, including those that followed the 1996 police killing of 18-year-old Tyron Lewis.

Nevel is the chairperson of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, a branch for the movement’s white allies. Hess is the chairperson of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, another of the group’s outreach entities.

Kodzo, a former Uhuru member who is among those named in the new indictment, founded another group in Georgia known as the Black Hammer, which Ionov is alleged to have used. Ionov also influenced a third unnamed political group in California, prosecutors allege.

The indictment accuses the Russian intelligence officers of conspiring with Ionov to influence the 2019 St. Petersburg city election. It alleges that they secretly funded and directed the campaign of a particular candidate who ran for a city office that year.

The indictment quotes Popov referring to the effort as “our election campaign,” and Ionov speaking of a candidate “whom we supervise.” It’s unclear who the candidate was, though Uhuru members have in the past backed candidates in elections for St. Petersburg’s mayor and City Council elections. One Uhuru member, Eritha “Akile” Cainon, ran for City Council in 2019 but lost by a wide margin. She has not been indicted in connection with the investigation.

Ionov and Popov intended for their efforts to extend beyond the 2019 St. Petersburg elections, according to the indictment. They discussed the “USA presidential election” as their “main topic of the year,” the indictment states.

After the presidential election in November 2020, Ionov drafted a report to Popov describing how he had funded a protest in Washington, D.C., the indictment states. He explained that his support for prior local campaigns would make it possible “to carry out more effective campaigns during municipal elections” and “lay the groundwork for a new electoral base.”

The indictment came eight months after FBI agents executed search warrants at several locations, including the Uhuru House at 1245 18th Ave. S in St. Petersburg.

Group members since then have decried the searches of their property and denied working on behalf of Russia or committing any wrongdoing. They have accused the U.S. government of trying to silence them.

Times staff writers Jack Evans and Natalie Weber contributed to this report.