A former CUNY professor accused of spying for Russia told federal authorities right after his arrest that he had a fake name and that “he would not violate his loyalty to the” Russian secret “service even for his son,” federal prosecutors said today.
The ex-prof, who lived in Yonkers under the fake name “Juan Lazaro,” also told investigators on Sunday that his wife, El Diario columnist Vicky Pelaez, had delivered letters to their spymasters on his behalf, and that their Yonkers home “had been paid for by the ‘Service,'” according to a filing by federal prosecutors.
Pelaez is being held without bond along with “Lazaro” — who is refusing to provide his real name — on charges that they acted as agents for Russia. The filing indicated that federal authorities were monitoring their conversations by “microphones” in the Yonkers home “for years.”
That filing also revealed that two other people accused of participating in the same spy ring — Richard and Cynthia Murphy of Montclair, NJ — had a safe-deposit box containing $80,000 in cash.
Judge Ronald Ellis said Pelaez, a journalist born in Peru but who has U.S. citizenship, could be released on house arrest with a monitoring device if someone paid the $250,000 bond, with $10,000 needed in cash.
Ellis denied bail to Richard and Cynthia Murphy of Montclair, N.J. A bail hearing was postponed for Juan Lazaro, Pelaez’ husband.
In New York, a prosecutor said the spies have helpers in the US waiting to aid their flight if they are released on bail.
The filings released today said that “Moscow Center” — the spymasters for the ring — in 2008 sent the Murphys a messages that said there were “‘three major ways for [Richard Murphy] to start [his] career for Service’s purposes,’ one of which was, among other things to get involved in ‘dem./rep. campaing [sic] HQ in your area.'”
Full Story: Former CUNY professor admits to being a spy for Russia – NYPOST.com
