'There Are So Many Things Wrong With This It's Hard to Make a List'

It's one thing for a television station to hire some bimbo to do celebrity gossip spots. It's quite another when said bimbo is facing federal charges.

A Plano woman who made national and tabloid headlines this summer after her arrest on smuggling charges has a new job: television commentator.

Instead of making news, Anna Fermanova was delivering it in her debut Thursday night as a celebrity gossip commentator on the nightly newscast for KDAF-TV (Channel 33).

"I'm Anna Fermanova; some call me the sexy Russian. And that's my take," she said after a two-minute report about Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.

The television gig marks the latest turn for the 24-year-old Fermanova, who remains under a cloud of suspicion with the law.

Federal authorities have charged her with trying to smuggle three military-grade rifle sights from the United States into Russia. Authorities say she stuffed the scopes into Ugg boots that were packed inside her luggage.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers confiscated the scopes at New York's Kennedy International Airport in March, but allowed her to continue on her flight to Moscow. She was arrested in July when she returned to Texas to visit family.

The case drew added attention after provocative photos from Fermanova's Facebook page surfaced in tabloids. Her case came a month after another woman, Anna Chapman, emerged as a celebrity in the tabloids when she was charged with being part of a Russian spy ring in New York.

Fermanova is due back in court in New York next month. She faces up to 10 years in prison for the felony charge.

Attempts to reach Fermanova on Friday were unsuccessful. Several managers for KDAF did not return calls for comment.

Many newsmakers have made the leap from headlines to broadcasting before – even some who faced criminal charges.

Examples include disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who appeared on television's The Apprentice ; Kato Kaelin, a witness in the O.J. Simpson trial who parlayed his fame into broadcast appearances, and radio host G. Gordon Liddy, who served prison time for his role in the Watergate scandal.

Media critics say Fermanova's camera turn is probably an attempt by KDAF to gain some publicity.

Some observers said her hiring raises ethical questions.

"There are so many things wrong with this it's hard to make a list," said Al Tompkins, a broadcast and online journalism expert at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit media research group. "What does it say about the integrity of a newsroom where they put someone in a position like this who remains under a cloud of suspicion?"

Integrity in the media? Ha ha ha ha ha.