ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two Virginia suspects in an alleged spy ring have admitted they are Russian citizens living in the U.S. under false identities, prosecutors said Friday.
The defendants known as Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills told authorities that their real names are Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday. The pair were arrested in Arlington, Va., where they have been living as a married couple with two young children.
Prosecutors said Pereverzeva has told a family friend caring for the children to contact her family in Russia and make arrangements for the tots to go home to the motherland.
Zottoli and Mills, along with a third defendant, Mikhail Semenko, remained jailed after waiving their right Friday to a detention hearing during brief appearances in federal court.
They are among 11 people arrested this week.
Also Friday in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Justice Minister Loucas Louca said it was unlikely that fugitive suspect Christopher Metsos, 54, would be apprehended on the Mediterranean island because he thinks Metsos is no longer there. The Associated Press
