Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Alleged Russian Spy to Register Plea Friday by VOA News U.S. court documents indicate a Russian citizen accused of spying will register a plea Friday, ahead of his federal trial next month. Evgeny Buryakov is accused of posing as an employee of a Russian bank in New York City to gain information for Moscow's foreign intelligence agency, known as the SVR. Prosecutors' documents indicate Buryakov could register a plea of guilty or not guilty on Friday. He is set to face trial in federal court in Manhattan on April 4. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Buryakov's arrest in January 2015, after he held multiple secret meetings with an undercover FBI agent that Buryakov believed to be an energy company analyst. Buryakov is charged with conspiring to act as an agent of the Russian government without registering as such. Prosecutors say he conspired with two other Russian men to gather U.S. economic intelligence, including details about U.S. sanctions against Moscow. He is also accused of trying to recruit New York residents as intelligence contacts. The undercover agent supplied Buryakov with binders of energy data that also contained concealed microphones, allowing the FBI to eavesdrop on conversations between Buryakov and his handlers at the Russian intelligence agency. The documents say recordings of those conversations "make clear" that Buryakov was getting orders from the SVR and transmitting information back to Moscow. His alleged partners, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy, were not arrested because they had diplomatic immunity. Sporyshev is a former Russian trade representative and Podobnyy was an attache to the Russian mission to the United Nations. Both have left the United States. Federal prosecutors have compared this case to the high-profile arrest of 10 Russian intelligence agents in New York in 2010. Those agents pled guilty and were deported to Russia as part of a prisoner swap. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/alleged-russian-spy-to-register-plea- friday/3231439.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/alleged-russian-spy-to-register-plea-friday/3231439.html