A former US ambassador who pleaded guilty to spying for Cuba for almost four decades was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge on Friday. Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, was arrested in December for “one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent.”
Rocha first pleaded not guilty in February to accusations of conspiring to pose as a foreign government agent but later accepted a plea deal with federal authorities.
Following a three-and-a-half-hour hearing in Miami on Friday, Judge Beth Bloom informed Rocha that she would impose “the maximum penalty permitted by law.”
In addition to the 15-year sentence, Rocha received a $500,000 fine.
Rocha, a naturalized US citizen originating from Colombia, allegedly began assisting Havana as a covert agent for Cuba’s General Directorate of Intelligence (DGI) in 1981, and his espionage activities continued until his arrest, according to US authorities.