Ten Russian agents were pleaded guilty on July 8 in Manhattan court for conspiring to serve as unlawful agents working for Russian Federation in Untied States of America. They will be expelled from the United States, the justice department announced on July 8. In the hearing the Judge Kimba M.Wood said the ten defendants were arrested on June 27 and were pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent for a foreign government within Untied States without notifying U.S. Attorney general. Under this plea agreement the defendants were required to disclose their true identities.

The defendants known as “Richard Murphy” and “Cynthia Murphy” admitted they are Russian citizens named Vladimir Guryev and Lydia Guryev and are agents of the Russian Federation. Defendants “Michael Zottoli” and “Patrica Mills” admitted they are Russian citizens named Mikhail Kutsik and Natalia Pereverzeva, and are agents of the Russian Federation. Defendants “Donald Howard Heathfield” and “Tracey Lee Ann Foley” admitted they are Russian citizens named Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova, and are agents of the Russian Federation. “Juan Lazaro” admitted that he is a Russian citizen named Mikhail Anatonoljevich Vasenkov and is an agent of the Russian Federation. The defendants Vicky Pelaez, Anna Chapman and Mikhail Semenko, who operated in this country under their true names, admitted that they are agents of the Russian Federation; and Chapman and Semenko admitted they are Russian citizens.

The United States has agreed to transfer these agents back to Russian authorities and in return Russian Federation has agreed to release four individuals who are incarcerated in Russia for alleged contact with the western intelligence agencies.

Attorney General Eric Holder said “This was an extraordinary case, developed through years of work by investigators, intelligence lawyers, and prosecutors, and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests.”

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Farbiarz, Glen Kopp, and Jason Smith of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and Trial Attorneys Kathleen Kedian and Richard Scott of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.