MIAMI (AP) — A former career U.S. diplomat was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the U.S. foreign service.
Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine and cooperate with authorities after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed more than a dozen other counts, including wire fraud and making false statements.
“Your actions were a direct attack to our democracy and the safety of our citizens,” U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom told Rocha.
Rocha, dressed in a beige jail uniform, asked his friends and family for forgiveness. “I take full responsibility and accept the penalty,” he said.
The sentencing capped an exceptionally swift criminal case and averted a trial that would have shed new light on what, exactly, Rocha did to help Cuba even as he worked for two decades for the U.S. State Department.
Biden says Brown v. Board of Education ruling was about more than education
Woman Seeks to Showcase Dong Culture
Hard Work, Many Revisions Made Paralympic Mascot
‘The Blue Angels,’ filmed for IMAX, puts viewers in the ‘box’ with the elite flying squad
From Migrant Worker to Reform Pioneer
Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Visits Spring Bud Girls in Jiangxi
China Women's Basketball Head Coach Calls for Continuous Improvement
Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry
7 Decades Later, Girl Admitted to Grandfather's Alma Mater
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
Li Hongfeng Wins Gold of Women's Cross Country Olympic of Cycling Mountain Bike at Hangzhou Asiad