One of the alleged Russian spies has confessed that he is, in fact, a Russian spy, federal prosecutors say. In opposing bail, the feds revealed that Juan Lazaro told them he and his wife (also charged) worked for the "service," a reference to the modern version of the KGB. He also said that Juan Lazaro isn't his true name (though he wouldn't give his real one), that Russia paid for his house in Yonkers, and that while he loved his 17-year-old son, his loyalty to the service came first, reports CNN.
We don't learn what Lazaro, a former professor at Baruch College, and his wife, journalist Vicky Pelaez, supposedly reported to their Russian handlers, but Lazaro said Pelaez "delivered letters to the service on his behalf." Prosecutors told the judge the suspects shouldn't be released on bail, because they'd likely get help from the service to flee, reports the New York Times. “All of the defendants are practiced in the sort of systemic deception that would be necessary were they to attempt to leave the United States." (More Russian spies stories.)