Russian banker accused of spying pleads guilty to conspiracy

NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian banker accused of participating in a Cold War-style spy ring pleaded guilty Friday to a conspiracy charge and agreed to spend up to 2½ years in prison, making it likely he'll be returning to his homeland in the next year.

When Buryakov was arrested last year, prosecutors said he had teamed up with diplomats from 2012 through January 2015 to gather sensitive economic intelligence on potential U.S. sanctions against Russian banks and on U.S. efforts to develop alternative energy resources.

The case was announced less than five years after the arrest of 10 covert agents — a sleeper cell referred to as "The Illegals" by the SVR, the foreign intelligence agency headquartered in Moscow — who led ordinary lives for several years in the United States using aliases.