Summary Evgeny Buryakov pleaded guilty to count one on an original two-count indictment
NEW YORK, (AFP) - A Russian banker pleaded guilty in New York on Friday to conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign government agent, more than a year after he was arrested in an alleged spy ring bust.
The plea possibly saves Russia and the United States from divulging potentially sensitive information in the glare of a public trial, which had been scheduled to begin on April 4.
Dressed in navy prison scrubs, Evgeny Buryakov, in his early 40s, pleaded guilty to count one on an original two-count indictment that had also accused him of also acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
The second charge has been dropped. Prosecutors and Buryakov s defense team agree that a sentence of 2.5 years would be appropriate, and a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000.
He will be sentenced by federal Judge Richard Berman on May 25. The offense carries a maximum sentence of five years under US law.
"I plead guilty your honor," said Buryakov, wearing black-rimmed spectacles and speaking in fluent but accented English.
US prosecutors revealed in court papers this week that the FBI had eavesdropped on Russian agents in the case for months with the help of tiny recorders planted in binders purportedly containing trade secrets.
Buryakov, who was arrested in January 2015, was originally accused of working with the trade mission official and another Russian attached to the UN mission in New York. Both those officials had diplomatic immunity and are no longer in the United States.
