The programmer Stanislav Lisov from Taganrog was detained on January 13, 2017 in Barcelona at the request of the FBI and Interpol. Spanish police said the Russian suspected of cyber fraud: the theft of nearly $ 1 million, as well as an attempt to conduct other illegal operations worth about $ 4.4 million.

In early April, the US Department of Justice put forward a demand to extradite Lisov to America, where he was threatened with imprisonment for up to 35 years. Despite repeated appeals by the defense of the programmer, on December 1, 2017, the Spanish government approved his extradition, which took place on January 19, 2018.

In November 2019, Lisov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a hacker attack and was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing money from accounts in American banks using the NeverQuest Trojan. The court took into account the already served term and the approximate behavior of the Russian.

In Pennsylvania, where Lisov was in the spring of 2020, the process of his deportation to Russia was to begin, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no exact date for the return of the programmer. As RT told his wife Daria, according to the documents he should be extradited to Russia on June 10.

On June 16, US law enforcement officers brought Lisov to JFK New York Airport and escorted to the plane. The flight landed in Moscow on June 17.

After Stanislav will spend two weeks in quarantine in the capital, he will be able to return to his native Taganrog. He told RT what his last three and a half years were.

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Return to Russia

- Stanislav, how did you get there?

- The flight went perfectly. I was hoping, of course, that I could sleep - until that day I had spent no sleep, but I felt so excited that I was returning home that I could not doze off. I didn’t communicate with anyone on the plane, only at the end one passenger recognized me and wished me a pleasant return.

- The first thought when you landed in Moscow?

- In general, my place was at the aisle, so I did not see how we were going down over Moscow, but when I was approaching the house I felt the whole flight, even when we were over the Atlantic Ocean. I was really looking forward to this moment.

They took me out last: it was necessary to miss passengers not from Russia. Plus border, customs. I gave all the necessary documents to the accompanying people and waited on the sidelines when everything was completed.

All the time - in custody, in flight, while crossing the border - I only thought about when I would see my wife.

Of course, I am very glad that I returned. True, I have to spend two weeks in quarantine in Moscow, but compared to years in prison, this is the easiest test.

“ How did you know that you were coming home?”

- That I basically returned to Russia, I learned after a court decision, when I had to plead guilty. Then it was necessary to wait until the appointed term of 48 months expired, taking into account the already served conclusion and good behavior.

The fact that I am flying away on the 16th, I became aware only last Sunday. All this time, my relatives, lawyers, representatives of the embassy contacted each other. I was in the dark because I could not call them. But it turned out that everything worked out and a date has been set.

Time in jail

- Tell us about your detention.

- My wife and I returned the car we rented at the airport in Barcelona. Right in the parking lot, several plainclothes policemen approached us and asked for something in Spanish. They started to tell, show, gesticulate something, but without a word in English or Russian. As a result, they handcuffed him and took him to the police. I could not understand why I was detained, but they did not provide me with an interpreter.

As a result, I spent three and a half years in different prisons. At first I was arrested in Spain, then extradited to the United States.

- Your wife said that in the USA you were held in a cell of 80 people, did not receive medical care. What can you say about conditions in American and Spanish prisons?

- The conditions in the USA and Spain are very different. I looked solely from the point of view of how convenient it is for me to talk with my wife, with my parents. Where it was possible to organize this communication, it was more convenient for me.

Although the living conditions in America were objectively much worse, there were more telephone conversations and access to a computer. In Spain, it was more difficult to contact relatives: there were fewer calls, they were shorter, they were reset, and it was not possible to make calls every day.

“ How was your day like?”

- In principle, almost all the time was free. Of course, there was a clear rise or breakfast time. But the rest was free, it was possible to go out somewhere, go in for sports, watch TV, study - in the USA, many prisoners received secondary education during the term. Both in Spain and in the USA I met several compatriots, but basically the communication still went on in Spanish and English.

- What did you miss most of all during these years?

- There were no shortages of simple things or products. I only missed family and friends.

Future plans

- Your specialization is the creation and technical support of sites. Cyber ​​fraud, hacking banking programs do not seem to fit your profile ...

- Absolutely not my profile, I do not do this. My wife and I live modestly, and even in order to pay for the services of a lawyer, we had to sell an old foreign car of economy class.

The connection between me and the program, which supposedly hacked accounts, was suspected on my servers. In fact, these were even suspicions of suspicion. Before that, I served websites for the States and Europe, I had many clients, so theoretically, my name could somehow be displayed there.

Now the case is closed, fortunately, there are no complaints from the authorities against me.

- You are not the first person from the sphere of programming detained by foreign special services. With what, in your opinion, is such a focus on “Russian hackers” connected?

- In the American media there is a huge amount of propaganda against Russia, “Russian hackers” who not only allegedly interfere in the elections, but are generally guilty of almost all sins. True, the United States has switched to the Chinese over the past year and a half.

“ Have you decided what you will do after quarantine ends?”

“I still don't know if I will have any restrictions on employment.” But, being there, I was engaged in the development of various projects, came up with different ideas, made sketches. Now I have the opportunity to search for the necessary information, then to implement the projects. All of them belong to different areas, but, of course, most of them are related to web development.