Under Italian law, within a few days of being arrested, a suspect must appear before a judge, who then decides whether to validate the charges on the warrant. The judge at Tuesday's hearing upheld the Italian charges of criminal association, fraud and corruption.

Tokhtakhounov also was arrested on a U.S. criminal complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court, that accused him of fixing the results of the pairs and ice dancing competitions at the Winter Olympics in February.

The Italian police have released excerpts of wiretapped conversations they say show Tokhtakhounov was involved in fixing the events. They say he might have contacted up to six judges to help secure a gold medal for the Russians in the pairs competition in exchange for a victory by the French ice dancing team. Both teams won.

Rodighiero, assigned to Venice's criminal court, was ferried back and forth from the prison by motorboat.

When the defense lawyer showed up for the hearing, he entered the prison with a stack of Russian newspaper clippings under his arm. He asked prison authorities if he could give the clips to Tokhtakhounov and was granted permission.

Tokhtakhounov has been living in Italy in a Tuscan seaside villa for about two years.

On Monday, in France, Olympic ice dance champion Marina Anissina acknowledged she had talked "from time to time" with Tokhtakhounov. She and partner Gwendal Peirzerat won the event.

She insisted that knowing him had nothing to do with her gold medal.

The French couple, along with the Russian pairs champions, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, spoke at a news conference to defend themselves against accusations contained in a U.S. criminal complaint that their figure skating competitions were fixed.

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