Brazil Won't Extradite Alleged Russian Spy to US

Brazil this week denied a U.S. extradition request for Sergey Cherkasov, an alleged Russian spy who was charged by the Justice Department in March, CBS News reports.

According to court documents, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov lived in the US under the alias Victor Muller Ferreira in Washington, D.C., where he attended graduate school for two years while allegedly working as an illegal Russian intelligence agent.

Brazil's Ministry of Justice announced in a statement on Thursday that the request was considered unfounded because the country's Supreme Court had approved an extradition request made by Russia last April, where Cherkasov is wanted for narcotics trafficking, though those plans have since been suspended.

Cherkasov remains in prison in Brazil, according to Brazilian Minister of Justice Flávio Dino. An attorney representing Cherkasov said that his client's extradition to Russia "will only be executed after the final judgment of all his cases here in Brazil."

The Wall Street Journal reported that a Brazilian court ruling earlier this week reduced Cherkasov's prison sentence, for document fraud, from 15 years to five years. His attorneys told the newspaper they are asking for permission for him to serve his sentence outside prison, possibly at the Russian consulate in São Paulo.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment when reached by CBS News.

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