FILE PHOTO: Maria Butina appears in a police booking photograph released by the Alexandria Sheriff's Office in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. August 18, 2018. Alexandria Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Maria Butina, accused of acting as an agent of Russia’s government, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in a U.S. court on Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors, Fox News reported.

Butina was charged in July by U.S. federal prosecutors in a case that could help them gain insight into Russian efforts to meddle in American politics. A Russian former graduate student at American University in Washington who publicly advocated for gun rights, she was accused of working to infiltrate a powerful gun lobby group, the National Rifle Association, and influence U.S. policy toward Moscow.