Asia-Pacific

US deports another person in Russian spy probe

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-14 08:57
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WASHINGTON - US officials said on Tuesday that a Russian who was suspected of being connected to a Russian "spy ring" was deported on immigration charges.

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The man, 23-year-old Alexey Karetnikov, was ordered to leave the country Monday by an immigration judge, Homeland Security officials were quoted by local media as saying. The man has been under surveillance since he entered the country in October.

Ten people of Russian origin pleaded guilty last week to being illegal foreign agents in the United States, and were subsequently ordered to leave the country in exchange for four people convicted in Russia for being Western agents.

There was another person charged in the suit. He was caught in Cyprus, but later went missing after making bail.

Officials say although Karetnikov was connected to the ring, he wasn't an important figure, and was believed to have obtained or passed on no classified information.

He pleaded guilty to being in the country illegally in exchange for not being charged with other accounts, and was voluntarily deported. It is not clear whether he was part of the spy swap deal.