Russian spy suspects remain jailed in U.S.

Three suspects in an alleged Russian spy ring will remain in jail after waiving their right Friday to a detention hearing.

The defendants known as Michael Zottoli, Patricia Mills and Mikhail Semenko appeared briefly Friday in U.S. federal court in Alexandria, Va. Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan set a preliminary hearing for next Wednesday for all three defendants.

In a court filing ahead of Friday's hearing, prosecutors said Zottoli and Mills had admitted theywere Russian citizens living in the U.S. under false identities. The pairsaid their real names are Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva.

They were arrested Sunday in Arlington, Va., where they had been living as a married couple with two children.

The hearing had been scheduled for Thursday but was postponed at the request of attorneys for Kutzik and Pereverzeva. The attorneys would not say why they asked for the delay.

When he was arrested, Kutzikclaimed to be a U.S. citizen, born in Yonkers, N.Y., and married to Pereverzeva. The FBI said the two lived together over the years in a number of locations, including Seattle, before moving to Virginia last year.

Group of 10 arrested

Kutzik, Pereverzevaand Semenkoare part of a group of 10 arrested last weekend for allegedly serving as secret agents of the Russian government in the United States, the Justice Department said.

Eight of the 10 were arrested Sunday for allegedly carrying out long-term, deep cover assignments in the United States on behalf of Russia.

Two others were arrested for allegedly participating in the same Russian intelligence program within the United States. Their role, according to the court papers, was "to search and develop ties in policymaking circles" in the United States.

Each of the 10 was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison on conviction. Nine were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum 20 years in prison on conviction.

An 11th suspect, Christopher Metsos, disappeared Wednesday after a judge in Cyprus freed him on bail equivalent to$35,000 Cdn.

Cyprus Justice Minister Lucas Luca said he believes Metsos, who holds a Canadian passport, is no longer on the east Mediterranean island. Metsos is wanted in the United States on charges that he supplied money to the spy ring.

The arrests were the result of a multi-year FBI investigation into an alleged network of U.S.-based agents who concealed all connections between themselves and Russia. The U.S. government intercepted a message from Russian intelligence headquarters in Moscow to two of the defendants who called themselves Cynthia and Richard Murphy.