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Bail Granted for Vicki Pelaez in Russian Spy Case

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 08:12:24 PM EST
Tags: Russian spy case, Vicki Pelaez (all tags)
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Vicki Pelaez, a reporter with El Diaro, has been granted bail in the Russian spy case.

The judge said there was no evidence she had been trained as a spy and she is a U.S. citizen. Her husband is Juan Lazaro, who according to the Government, waived his Miranda rights and confessed. He also said his name is not Juan Lazaro but refused to reveal his identity.

Peruvian news articles have been filled with articles about Ms. Pelaez, since much of her family is there and she used to work for El Diaro in Peru.

A niece of Mr. Lazaro in Uruguay denies he is a spy and says the family will be coming to the U.S. to see what is going on.

(Disclosure: BTD says Ms. Pelaez worked for him at El Diaro in the 90s.)

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    Bail Granted for Vicki Pelaez in Russian Spy Case | 11 comments (11 topical)

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    Then you add the Peruvian connection. (5.00 / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 11:12:50 PM EST
    Hummm.

    Flight risk? (none / 0) (#1)
    by diogenes on Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 09:11:00 PM EST
    Family in Peru plus "An 11th suspect disappeared in Cyprus after he was released on bail."  We don't really know yet whether these people were trained or acted as spies; one month ago none of their friends suspected.
    Given that the Times Square bomber was on a plane after slipping away from police sight I don't have a great amount of confidence in house arrest; once the maximum number are bailed, they'll disappear.

    Don't worry Dio... (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 08:07:15 AM EST
    even if the FBI version of the story is the truth, all these cats did was hustle Moscow outta some cashish...a public service in cold war relic circles:)

    Parent
    That's how I feel about it :) (none / 0) (#12)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 12:34:43 PM EST
    Any of the agencies they would want to get close to to get a scrap of anything even remotely cool, they won't be...likely not ever.  I guess I'm no fun though, having spies in my country and all, adopting such a laissez faire attitude :)

    Parent
    Isn't the issue re bail whether the defendent (none / 0) (#3)
    by oculus on Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 11:06:04 PM EST
    is a flight risk, not whether she was trained as a spy?  

    two issues for bond (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jeralyn on Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 11:51:04 PM EST
    in federal court: flight risk and danger to the community.

    Parent
    Federal magistrate judges, (none / 0) (#9)
    by Peter G on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 08:37:38 AM EST
    who hear bail applications, tend to agree that the seriousness of the charges (including potential penalties if the accused were to be convicted), combined with the "[apparent] weight of the evidence," increase the risk of flight.  For that reason, notwithstanding the presumption of innocence, the nature of the charges and the defendant's alleged role are viewed as pertinent to the bail decision.

    Parent
    Don't the feds (none / 0) (#10)
    by Rojas on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 08:51:14 AM EST
    run at about a 97% conviction rate? I know part of this is driven from charging everything under the sun so something is gonna stick. With conviction rate like that it would seem the weight of the evidence is generally pretty high.

    Parent
    Really Crazy stuff :) (none / 0) (#6)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 12:28:59 AM EST


    First things first: (none / 0) (#7)
    by shoephone on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 12:55:31 AM EST
    Don't we need to determine if there is a connection between the Russian Spies and "Sports Left?"

    Oh no (none / 0) (#11)
    by mmc9431 on Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 09:11:12 AM EST
    Does this mean we're going to have to add another few billion into the CIA coffers to rekindle the Cold War?

    Bail Granted for Vicki Pelaez in Russian Spy Case | 11 comments (11 topical)

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