US and Russia swap spies

**Jenna** · 07-10-10, 06:02 AM

In a conference call with reporters, senior administration officials said the agents agreed never to return to the United States without permission from the U.S. government.
Holding them would have conferred no security benefit to the nation, they said.
This "clearly serves the interests of the United States," one official said.
A second official said the four prisoners in Russia were in failing health, a consideration that prompted quick completion of the deal.
Under the plea agreements, the defendants disclosed their true identities in court and forfeited assets attributable to the criminal offenses, the Justice Department said in a news release.
"Defendants Vicky Pelaez, Anna Chapman and Mikhail Semenko, who operated in the United States under their true names, admitted that they are agents of the Russian Federation; and Chapman and Semenko admitted they are Russian citizens," the Justice Department said.
Carlos Moreno, an attorney for Pelaez, said his client does not want to take up residence in Russia and would prefer ultimately to live in her native Peru or in Brazil, where she has family. Pelaez hopes to continue her work as a journalist, according to Moreno.
Pelaez told the court that Moscow promised her free housing in Russia and a $2,000 monthly stipend for life, as well as visas for her children to travel to see her. Pelaez and her husband, both naturalized American citizens, were stripped of that citizenship as a part of the plea deal.
Authorities have lost track of an 11th suspect, who was detained in Cyprus, released on bail, and then failed to check in with authorities as he had promised to do.
In Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree Friday pardoning the four Russians imprisoned for alleged contact with Western intelligence agencies, the Kremlin press service said, according to state-run RIA Novost

More here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/09/...ex.html?hpt=C1

**keith720** · 07-10-10, 08:19 PM

I guess the administration has shown how "tough" they really are! They've just shown that you can spy against us, and all you'll get is deported! Now that's a deterrent, isn't it?

**Jks9199** · 07-10-10, 08:42 PM

Old news, and it's the way things have been done for ages. It used to be quite routine for someone to be caught spying (often under the guise of being a diplomat), and declared persona non grata, and sent out of the country. This sort of swap also used to be pretty routine; essentially both sides admitting they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar at various points.