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UPI. Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001.
MIAMI A federal judge sentenced a Cuban spy Wednesday to life in
prison for helping set up a MiG attack on two Brothers to the Rescue search
planes in 1996, killing four Miami men.
Gerardo Hernandez, 36, was convicted June 8 of conspiracy.
Before his sentencing, Hernandez addressed the court for 20 minutes. He said
that the prosecution was a puppet of Miami's Cuban-American community and that
the charges never should have been filed.
Four others were convicted on charges involving espionage in the trial and
will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard later. There were 26 counts
against the five, and all resulted in guilty verdicts after the five-month
trial. Hernandez was the only one charged in the attack.
There had been speculation that Lenard could hand down a more severe
sentence in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but defense attorney
Jack Blumenfeld argued it should work the other way.
He said that Cuba also feared terrorist attacks but claimed the attacks
would come from Cuban-Americans in Miami. He said hotel bombings in Cuba were
backed by exiles and that the Brothers to the Rescue Cessna aircraft also posed
a threat to the Castro regime.
"The government would have a real hard time screaming, as they did ...
that these were just civilian aircraft. I think Sept. 11 puts an interesting
spin on things," said Blumenfeld, who represents another defendant, Antonio
Guerrero.
Also convicted of spying were Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene
Gonzalez. Hernandez, Guerrero and Labanino were also convicted of providing
secrets from military installations to the Cuban dictatorship and faced life in
prison.
The two Gonzalezes, who are not related, face 10 years for convictions on
lesser spying charges.
The mothers of four of the agents and Rene Gonzalez's daughter were given
visas to attend the trial and were present. Labanino's wife did not receive a
visa in time to attend.
The 13-member delegation from Cuba sat on one side of the courtroom, and
supporters of Brothers to the Rescue sat on the other.
Defense attorneys have asked Lenard to consider the time the men have
already served: 18 months in what amounted to solitary confinement.
Prosecutor John Kastrenakes argued that they did not receive any harsh or
psychologically dangerous treatment during their stay.
Labanino was to be sentenced later Wednesday, and Rene Gonzalez today.
Sentencing for Fernando Gonzalez is set for Monday, and Guerrero's sentencing
has been postponed until Dec. 27.
The prosecution said during the trial the five were single-minded spies bent
on stealing U.S. military secrets and menacing south Florida's Cuban exiles. The
Pentagon said no secrets were lost, but the prosecution argued that was their
objective.
The defense did not deny the five were spying but said they were doing it
legally by collecting information from the media and other public sources.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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