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Paul Whelan
Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian-born United States Marine veteran who was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence. He was released in a United States–Russia prisoner swap in Ankara, Turkey, on August 1, 2024.
Whelan holds U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. Whelan was given a bad conduct discharge from the United States Marine Corps in 2008 after being convicted on multiple counts "related to larceny".
Whelan was born on March 5, 1970, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to British parents with Irish heritage. He was raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988. In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother, Andrew, and a sister, Elizabeth. He said in a deposition in 2013 that he holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an MBA degree. He took courses at Northern Michigan University from fall 1988 to fall 1990 without earning a degree.
According to Whelan, he entered the law enforcement profession in 1988, the same year he graduated high school. He stayed in this profession through the 1990s, as a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff's deputy in Washtenaw County. However, the Chelsea Police Department said Whelan worked in lesser roles and as a part-time officer from 1990 to 1996, while the Washtenaw County sheriff reported no record of his employment. A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor Police Department. During this period, in 1994, Whelan enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve.
He became an IT manager for the Kelly Services staffing company from 2001 to 2003, and then 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2016, Whelan was promoted to Kelly Services' senior manager of global security and operations.
He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. He held the rank of staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38, working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge. The specific charges against him included "attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another's social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment."
When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan. His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with the U.S. intelligence community, federal agents and foreign embassies.
Whelan traveled to Russia several times from 2006 and maintained an intermittent presence on a Russian-language social media website, VKontakte (VK), where he had approximately 70 contacts. He has studied Russian but communicated online using Google Translate. Whelan supported Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election; following Trump's victory, he posted in Russian Президент Трyмп Вперед!! ("President Trump Onward!!").
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Paul Whelan
Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian-born United States Marine veteran who was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence. He was released in a United States–Russia prisoner swap in Ankara, Turkey, on August 1, 2024.
Whelan holds U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. Whelan was given a bad conduct discharge from the United States Marine Corps in 2008 after being convicted on multiple counts "related to larceny".
Whelan was born on March 5, 1970, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to British parents with Irish heritage. He was raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988. In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother, Andrew, and a sister, Elizabeth. He said in a deposition in 2013 that he holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an MBA degree. He took courses at Northern Michigan University from fall 1988 to fall 1990 without earning a degree.
According to Whelan, he entered the law enforcement profession in 1988, the same year he graduated high school. He stayed in this profession through the 1990s, as a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff's deputy in Washtenaw County. However, the Chelsea Police Department said Whelan worked in lesser roles and as a part-time officer from 1990 to 1996, while the Washtenaw County sheriff reported no record of his employment. A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor Police Department. During this period, in 1994, Whelan enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve.
He became an IT manager for the Kelly Services staffing company from 2001 to 2003, and then 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2016, Whelan was promoted to Kelly Services' senior manager of global security and operations.
He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. He held the rank of staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38, working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge. The specific charges against him included "attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another's social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment."
When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan. His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with the U.S. intelligence community, federal agents and foreign embassies.
Whelan traveled to Russia several times from 2006 and maintained an intermittent presence on a Russian-language social media website, VKontakte (VK), where he had approximately 70 contacts. He has studied Russian but communicated online using Google Translate. Whelan supported Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election; following Trump's victory, he posted in Russian Президент Трyмп Вперед!! ("President Trump Onward!!").