A Virginia court ruled on Wednesday that the case of three suspected Russian spies should be heard in New York and ordered that they be transferred there.
Michael Zottoli, Patricia Mills and Mikhail Semenko were refused bail on July 3, after two of them admitted that they were Russian citizens living in the U.S. on false names.
They were among ten people arrested in the United States on June 27 on suspicion of being part of a Russian espionage ring. An 11th suspect was detained in Cyprus on June 29, but Christopher Metsos fled after being released on bail.
The suspects face up to five years in jail if they are found guilty of conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government - a charge less serious than that of espionage. Nine of the defendants have also been charged with conspiracy to launder money.
