Three of the 10 accused Russian spies held by the United States remained in custody on Saturday as prosecutors said two of them were the first to give up their true identities.
Suspects “Michael Zottoli” and “Patricia Mills” — a married couple ordered by a judge here to be kept detained along with third suspect Mikhail Semenko — confessed in post-arrest statements that their given names were fake and that they in fact were Russian citizens.
“Zottoli” admitted his true name was Mikhail Kutzik and that his real birth date was different to the one given under his cover, prosecutors said, with “Mills” confessing her real name to be Natalia Pereverzeva.
Both have family members still living in Russia, they said.
The court was unlikely to grant the three suspects even temporary freedom.