Spys to plead guilty

Most of the 10 suspects in a Russian spy ring have agreed to plead guilty, and will do so in person in a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.

8 July 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

Their pleas are part of an apparent resolution to the criminal cases, and are expected to facilitate a swap between the United States and Russia.

The suspects are then expected to leave the country promptly.

As often occurs in plea bargains, the defendants will be allowed to plead guilty to one charge — conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent, which carries a maximum penalty of five years and has no minimum term. The government will presumably drop a second charge that most of the defendants face, conspiring to launder money, which carries a 20-year term. None of the defendants are charged with espionage.

The agreements still depend on the judge’s accepting the pleas and imposing no prison time, which would presumably be the only way the defendants could be removed from the country quickly.

Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would comment on the case, but often in plea bargains the government and the defense write to a judge together recommending a sentence, which could be time served in this case.