Rogue FBI Agent Married ISIS Terrorist She Was Investigating
A translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) went rogue and married a key Islamic State (ISIS) operative that she was investigating. The circumstances surrounding this case happened in 2014, which led to the FBI employee serving two years' imprisonment for which she was released recently.
CNN identified the woman as 38-year-old Daniela Greene from the Bureau's Detroit office who had top-secret security clearance. She was assigned to spy on German national Dennis Cusspert, a former rap artist who became an ISIS recruiter. The linguist grew attracted to her subject despite being married to a U.S. soldier.
On June 11, 2014, Greene sought permission to go to Munich, Germany purportedly to see her parents. Instead, she snuck off to Syria to marry Cusspert and tell him he was under investigation. A month later, she realized her mistake and headed back to the U.S. and turned herself in.
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Greene pleaded guilty and was given a reduced sentence of only two years based on the prosecutor's recommendation, citing her cooperation with authorities. "After the egregious abuse of her position, the defendant attempted to right her wrongs, and to ultimately assist her country again," the prosecutor wrote.
People familiar with Greene, who goes by the nickname Dana, said they hadn't seen anything that would lead them to think she would come to this. She made it to the dean's list at Cameron University in Oklahoma and earned a Master's Degree in history at Clemson University where she was one of the better students.
Greene has been released, and she now works as hostess of a hotel lounge. Her attorney, former assistant federal public defender Shawn Moore, said she was "genuinely remorseful" of her actions. He described her as "smart, articulate, obviously naïve" and "a well-meaning person that got up in something way over her head."
