A Moscow district military court has handed down a 25-year sentence in absentia to Alexander Poteyev, the Russian double agent who fled to the US after betraying the espionage ring which included Anna Chapman.
Poteyev, a former Afghan war veteran and long-serving officer in Russia's foreign intelligence service (SVR), who is still believed to be hiding in the US, was found guilty of state treason and desertion, The Guardian reports.
Chapman and Poteyev's wife, Marina, appeared as witnesses during the trial, and in its judgment the Moscow district military court revealed that he had sent a text message to the latter after leaving Russia, saying: "Mari, try to take this calmly. I'm not going away for a while, I'm going away forever. I did not want to, but I had to. I will start a new life. I'll try to help the children."
29-year old Chapman and nine other sleeper agents known as "illegals" were captured in June 2010 in America after they had been under US intelligence surveillance for several years. The spies were deported to Russia in July, in exchange for four people who were allegedly linked to MI6 and the CIA and were serving different terms in Russian prisons.
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