Manuel Rocha, a former US ambassador, sentenced to 15 years for serving as secret agent for Cuba
Time:2024-05-21 14:34:23 Source:politicsViews(143)
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.
Previous:Iran helicopter crash that killed President Raisi could reverberate across the Middle East
Next:Adams, Reyna, Turner, Ream are US concerns ahead of Copa America
You may also like
- Uber and Lyft say they'll stay in Minnesota after Legislature passes driver pay compromise
- I'm a psychologist
- David de Gea jokingly asks 'who' as he responds to former Man United team
- I was deepfaked in porn videos having sex with various men
- Yvette Fielding says her Most Haunted co
- Why Kate Middleton waited to announce her cancer diagnosis
- WWII bomb found in garden in UK city taken out to sea
- Watch: Nicola Willis reveals economy has slipped further this year
- Kosovo prepares a new draft law on renting prison cells to Denmark after the first proposal failed