By Saniya Ghanoui -- July 8, 2010
The Cambridge couple accused of spying for Russia may be swapped in a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, said a lawyer for one imprisoned Russian scientist convicted of espionage.
There are negotiations going on between the United States and Russia to swap some or perhaps all of the 10 people arrested last week and accused of being Russian agents.
Donald Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley, the Cambridge couple arrested, are two of the spies considered for the swap.
Yesterday, the couple was moved to Manhattan, after waving their right to fight their transfer, in what is believed to be the first step of the exchange.
"My client would like to go to New York to face the charges which are pending against them there. He'd like to do that as fast as he can," said Heathfield's lawyer, Peter Krupp, in a hearing in Boston. Heathfield sat next to his lawyer during the one minute hearing.
The couple's two sons, Tim Foley, 20, a student at George Washington University and Alex Foley, 16, a student at the International School of Boston, left the United States and are currently in Russia, according to The Boston Globe.
According to Krupp, the couple's children had been "the number one priority and concern for my client and his wife since this whole ordeal started.
Igor Sutyagin, a Russian scientist imprisoned for spying for the United States, was convicted to a 14-year prison sentence in 2004.
Anna Stavitskaya, Sutyagin's lawyer, said he met with Russian officials, presumed to be from Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (S.V.R.), and American officials yesterday and agreed to an exchange.
Although he has always maintained his innocence, Sutyagin signed a statement admitting his guilt in the first step for his exchange, said Stavitskaya.
"If he is free, the United States could be thanked for one thing, for saving a person. I am thankful to the United States, if it was the United States that included him on the list," Stavitskaya said. "If at last he is freed- not in the way we wanted, because we wanted him to restore his good name- but it is difficult to do it given our judicial system."
The exchanged is reported to take place in Britain and Sutyagin will be transported through Vienna.
(Photo courtesy: AP Images)
