U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent a convicted Russian spy packing to Moscow on Wednesday, according to the agency.
Evgeny Buryakov, aka “Zhenya,” pleaded guilty in March of last year to conspiring to work as an agent for Russian intelligence without notifying the attorney general. He had been working under “non-official cover” as a banker in Manhattan starting in 2012.
As part of his plea agreement, Buryakov, 42, relinquished all claims to status in the U.S., and agreed to enter ICE custody at the conclusion of his federal prison term, ICE said in a statement. On March 31, he was turned over to ICE after being released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Elkton, Ind.
He was repatriated on board commercial flights, escorted by Cleveland-based ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations deportation officers and turned over to Russian authorities, according to ICE.
“Removing individuals like Mr. Buryakov represents ICE’s highest enforcement priority, which is protecting the national security of the United States,” Rebecca Adducci, field office director for ERO Detroit, said in a statement. “ICE will continue to move aggressively against those who engage in actions that could potentially compromise the security of our nation.”
Preet Bharara, the Manhattan U.S. attorney who earlier this year was fired by the Trump administration, said last March when Burkayov pleaded guilty that the case sounded like a plotline from a Cold War-era movie.
“More than two decades after the end of the Cold War, Russian spies still seek to operate in our midst under the cover of secrecy,” Bharara said in a press release from the Justice Department. “But in New York, thanks to the work of the FBI and the prosecutors in my office, attempts to conduct unlawful espionage will not be overlooked. They will be investigated and prosecuted.”
ICE said that in fiscal 2016 it has conducted 240,255 removals nationwide; 92 percent of these individuals were already convicted criminals.
