Twelfth Suspect in Russian Spy-Ring Case Is Deported
A 12th suspect in the Russian spy-ring case that erupted last month was deported by the U.S. on Tuesday, sent home on a free flight without being charged with a crime.Alexev Karetnikov, 23 years old, who had lived in the Seattle area, was flown back to Russia from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to U.S. officials. His detention was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
He was transported on Monday to New York for a connecting flight back to Russia after having been taken into custody on June 28 in Seattle, the official said. In the Seattle area, the young Russian had worked as an entry level software tester at Microsoft for less than year, a company spokesman said.
He wasn't charged as a secret agent, but he had been held since June 28 on immigration violations.
Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Mr. Karetnikov admitted he was in the U.S. illegally and voluntarily agreed to leave. An immigration judge then ordered him deported, Mr. Chandler said.
U.S. officials had been tight-lipped about the detention of a 12th suspect in the case; it wasn't disclosed in court papers concerning 11 other agents who were previously identified.
Federal Bureau of Investigation counterintelligence agents have been investigating the man since last fall, when his name surfaced in the decade-long espionage case, according to an official familiar with the matter.
It isn't clear why he attracted scrutiny, but Mr. Karetnikov came to agents' attention shortly after he entered the U.S. in October 2009. He had obtained a visa two months earlier.
U.S. officials canceled the man's visa on June 26, a day before FBI agents rounded up 10 of the 11 members of the undercover ring who were in the U.S. The 11th suspect jumped bail in Cyprus after he was arrested there.
The official familiar with the case said investigators weren't able to gather enough evidence against Mr. Karetnikov to bring criminal charges, and concluded his case wasn't like that of the 11 others. It wasn't clear if he had the same training from Russia's SVR intelligence agency that the others are believed to have received.
Last Friday, the U.S. and Russia carried out a historic prisoner swap on the tarmac of the Vienna airport. In exchange for the 10 Russian undercover agents, Russia turned over four prisoners it held.
Since that swap, the 14 agents involved have remained out of public view in Russia, the U.S. and the U.K., where two of those released by Russia chose to go. All the agents are expected to undergo lengthy debriefing by intelligence officials before being allowed to move around freely.
U.S. authorities said the minor children of the 10 arrested by the U.S. have been sent to Russia to join their parents.
Also Tuesday, the U.K. took action against one of the admitted agents, Anna Chapman, revoking her British citizenship.
Ms. Chapman had married a British man while living in the U.K. for several years. As the spy saga unfolded, she received much publicity when photos of her, including some in which she was partially undressed, appeared in U.K. newspapers.
The U.K. Home Secretary also is likely to bar Ms. Chapman from returning to the U.K., something it is entitled to do if it determines such a move would be conducive to the public good.
Ms. Chapman grew up in Volgograd, Russia, as Anna Kushchenko. She met her husband, Alex Chapman, at a 2001 rave party while visiting London. The pair married the next year in Moscow, where she was studying at the time.
Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com
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