Why Alleged Spy Vicky Peláez Was Granted Bail

An artist's sketch of the alleged Russian spies in court.
AFP/Getty Images)

by Marianne McCune

NEW YORK, NY July 02, 2010 —The El Diario newspaper columnist accused of collaborating with a ring of Russian spies was granted bail in a Manhattan federal courthouse yesterday evening. That’s despite the fact that another suspect in the alleged spy ring disappeared after a judge from the island of Cyprus allowed him out on bail. WNYC’s Marianne McCune was in the courtroom and she explains the latest developments:

It sounds like this was more exciting than your average bail hearing.
That’s right. Vicky Peláez has a big following here and throughout Latin America because of her reporting --it's been very critical of the U.S. and supportive of some of the Latin American leaders the U.S. considers foes. And there was a crowd of supporters outside the courthouse who were jubilant, chanting "Libertad" after they heard she was going to be released.

Carlos Moreno, one of her defense attorneys, told reporters Peláez herself was strong and in great spirits.

"She basically said she was very happy because this would give her opportunity to explain what has been going on to people who, after her arrest, had passed quick judgment as to whether or not she was a Russian spy or not," he said.

So she’ll be released as soon as she can make bail?
Yes, her family has to put up $10,000 in cash or a $250,000 bond, and her attorney said that will likely be done by Tuesday.

And this is all a bit of a surprise, isn’t it?
A bail hearing is about whether, if you let a suspect out of jail while they’re awaiting trial, they will still show up in court when they're supposed to. And after Christopher Metsos, the suspect U.S. authorities arrested in Cyprus, was granted bail by a judge there and released, he just disappeared. So it seemed like the courts here in the U.S. might be pretty sympathetic to the argument that there was indeed a flight risk with this group. That’s a big part of what prosecutors argued -- and in the case of some of the other suspects, they were denied bail. One was denied bail on Monday, and yesterday the couple known as Richard and Cynthia Murphy who lived in Montclair, NJ were also denied bail.

So why them but not Vicky Peláez?
What Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis said is that the Murphys, like many of the other suspects, were using false identities and given that he couldn’t even guarantee who they are, he could not guarantee that they would show up in court if released. But he said Peláez was a different and more complicated case. Her defense attorney had centered part of his argument on how she’s had a long career as a respected journalist, that she wasn’t using any aliases, that she has a reputation to defend and a teenager to take care of, and that she was only "tangentially related to the case.” The idea behind that argument is that while the others are accused of collecting and sending information to Russian agents, prosecutors have painted Peláez more as someone who was doing errands for her husband, who is also accused. Not minor errands -- allegedly delivering secret messages to Russian agents in Peru and picking up thousands of dollars of cash there. Anyway, Judge Ellis said that since she does not appear to be a trained agent and she does not have any false identities, and she has some incentive to stay and defend herself, she can wait for trial at home.

But she will be wearing an electronic ankle bracelet under house arrest.
Yes -– and the judge was careful to say that, from the documents filed so far, she does not appear innocent.

And that’s partly because of what prosecutors say her husband, Juan Lazaro, has been telling them.
Yes, in a letter to the judge in the courtroom yesterday evening, prosecutors said that since his arrest, he has been talking to them. And though there’s no signed confession, they say he’s told them that Lazaro is not his real name, that he says he would not violate his loyalty to the Russian intelligence service even for his beloved son. And prosecutors said he also talked about the role Peláez has played -– in delivering letters and picking up money. The prosecutor called Peláez a practiced deceiver and noted that this couple seemed even to have kept their alleged activities secret from their two sons.

Were the sons there in the courtroom?
Yes they were, and when they came out, they were mobbed by reporters trying to get them to comment. Though the older brother has called the charges a farce, last night they said their lawyer had instructed them not to talk. Some of the South American reporters were really hounding them. The older son, Waldo Mariscal, finally couldn’t stop himself and told reporters his father was pressured. But that’s all he said, besides "No comment." And his younger brother just looked upset and confused. Of course, Pelaez’s attorney also said he suspected Lazaro was coerced.

I learned from that same lawyer that Ramsey Clarke is also going to Peláez’s team. He is a former Attorney General whose strong left-wing views are actually similar to hers. And he’s also represented the likes of Saddam Hussein and the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.