Ten members of an alleged Russian spy ring in the U.S. gave their true names in court on Thursday as they prepared to enter guilty pleas to criminal charges as part of a plea deal with the U.S. government. NEW YORK (AP) _ Ten people accused of spying for Russia pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge Thursday, setting up what's expected to be the largest Russia-U.S. swap since the Cold War. "I carried letters in invisible ink," Ms. Pelaez, 55 years old, told U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, through a Spanish interpreter. An 11th defendant was a fugitive after he fled authorities in Cyprus following his release on bail. Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a 14-year sentenced for spying for the United States, had told his relatives he was going to be one of 11 convicted spies in Russia who would be freed in exchange for 11 people charged in the United States with being Russian agents. In Moscow, his lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, said a journalist called Igor Sutyagin's family to inform them that Sutyagin was seen walking off a plane in Vienna on Thursday.
– "Richard Murphy" is really Vladimir Guryev. "Donald Howard Heathfield" is really Andrey Bezrukov. Hottie spy Anna Chapman is really ... Anna Chapman. All 10 defendants accused of being deep-cover Russian agents pleaded guilty today under their real names, reports the Wall Street Journal. The deal allows them to avoid jail in the US and be deported to Moscow, probably within hours. In exchange, Russia is expected to release four US spies, says AP. The most prominent of that group is Russian physicist Igor Sutyagin, who is believed to have already left Russia or is about to do so. "No one has solid information," said his mother, who lives near Moscow. "Nobody has said anything officially and Igor himself hasn't called."