Couple who leaked federal court records to Armenian Power sentenced to prison
A Hollywood couple accused of disclosing confidential court records to members of the organized crime group Armenian Power was sentenced Wednesday to federal prison, officials said.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald sentenced Nune Gevorkyan, 36 — a clerk in the federal court’s criminal intake area — to six months in prison, and her 41-year-old husband, Oganes Koshkaryan, to 57 months in prison for his role in the scheme.
The couple, who must also serve three years supervised release, was ordered to cease any association with members of Armenian Power.
Fitzgerald called the scheme “unthinkable,” adding that Gevorkyan “besmirched the reputation of her co-workers,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Koshkaryan and Gevorkyan were arrested in August 2012 following a federal grand jury indictment accusing them of conspiring to obstruct justice by notifying members or associates of Armenian Power about imminent federal arrest warrants.
Their actions, police said, forced investigators to move up a large-scale gas theft operation due to concerns suspects would flee, destroy evidence or harm officers.
An investigation last year by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force discovered that Gevorkyan and her husband, an alleged associate of Armenian Power, was charging money in exchange for the confidential information obtained through the federal court system, police said.
The task force includes investigators from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Glendale, Burbank and Los Angeles police departments.
Undercover investigators made deals with Koshkaryan to get Gevorkyan to leak sealed court records about confidential information on criminal defendants involved in ongoing cases.
Authorities were then able to confirm that Gevorkyan accessed the court records.
In a March letter to Fitzgerald, Gevorkyan took full responsibility for her actions, according to U.S. District Court documents. She described feeling shame and sadness over losing “the best job” she’s ever had.
“I have always respected and followed the law, so to find myself in this situation has been a terrible shock to my system,” she wrote.
-- Veronica Rocha, veronica.rocha@latimes.com
Follow on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.