11 charged with belonging to Russian spy ring

MONTCLAIR, N.J. - One hobnobbed with academics and entrepreneurs who shared his interest in cutting-edge science.

Another spoke five languages, went to embassy parties and was fascinated by global politics. A third held herself out to be a venture capitalist and hit the networking circuit.

The 11 people arrested and accused of being members of a Russian spy ring operating under deep cover in America's suburbs appear to have been part of a slow and patient plan by Moscow to cultivate contacts in the United States who could yield vital competitive information - not necessarily on weapons or U.S. strategic planning, but on finance, business and technology, intelligence experts say.

"This is a long-term investment by an intelligence service to lead those individuals there, give them general assignments and see what they can pick up," said John Slattery, a deputy assistant director of counterintelligence at the FBI who retired in 2008.

Ten members of the alleged ring were arrested across the Northeast and charged Monday with failing to register as foreign agents, a crime that is a step down from espionage and carries up to five years in prison. Some also faced a money-laundering charge.

An 11th suspect was arrested in Cyprus, accused of passing money to the spies over several years.

Prosecutors said several of the defendants were Russians living in the United States under assumed names. It was unclear how and where they were recruited, but court papers said the operation went back as far as the 1990s.

In a case that seemed to have come straight out of a Cold War spy novel, many defendants lived what seemed to be utterly ordinary suburban lives - saying goodbye to their kids at the bus stop, taking pride in their well-kept lawns and flower beds, making small talk with the neighbors, even holding Fourth of July parties.

In Montclair, N.J., neighbors of a woman who called herself Cynthia Murphy said that they detected an accent, and when they asked where she was from, she said Belgium.