Defense attorney: preliminary hearing for 3 Russia spy suspects is postponed

3 suspects in Russia spy case to be moved to NY

WASHINGTON — A scheduled court hearing for three suspects in the Russia spy case was canceled Wednesday, and the trio was ordered to federal court in New York amid speculation that the U.S. and Russia are arranging a spy swap.

The three in Alexandria, Va., — Michael Zottoli, Patricia Mills and Mikhail Semenko — were to be moved to New York instead of appearing in Virginia.

In Washington, the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, a former American ambassador to Moscow, had a Wednesday morning meeting scheduled with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. Officials declined to comment on the reason for the meeting, the location of which was identified only as “Washington, D.C.”

Earlier, the brother of a man serving a 14-year prison sentence in Russia for alleged spying told reporters in Moscow that the United States and Russia are working on a spy swap.

Dmitry Sutyagin said his brother Igor, who is serving a 14-year prison sentence on charges of spying for the United States, was told by Russian officials that he was included in a group of other convicted foreign spies who are to be exchanged for the Russians arrested by the FBI last month.

The officials met Igor Sutyagin on Monday at a prison in Arkhangelsk, in northwestern Russia, and U.S. officials were at the meeting, his brother said.

Zottoli, Mills and Semenko are among 11 people arrested last month following a multi-year investigation of what prosecutors say was a long-term Russian effort to glean sensitive information.

Associated Press reporter Matt Lee in Washington and Matt Barakat in Alexandria, Va., contributed to this report.