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A former profession U.S. diplomat advised a federal decide Thursday that he’ll plead responsible to fees of working for many years as a undercover agent for communist Cuba, an unexpectedly quick decision to a case prosecutors described as one of the vital brazen betrayals within the historical past of the U.S. international service.
Victor Manuel Rocha’s gorgeous fall from grace may culminate in a prolonged jail time period after the 73-year-old stated he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to behave as an agent of a international authorities.
Prosecutors and Rocha’s legal professional indicated the plea deal contains an agreed-upon sentence, however they didn’t disclose particulars in courtroom Thursday. He’s due again in courtroom on April 12, when he is prone to be sentenced.
“I’m in settlement,” stated Rocha, shackled by the hands and ankles, when requested by U.S. District Courtroom Decide Beth Bloom if he wished to alter his plea to responsible. Prosecutors, in trade, agreed to drop 13 counts together with wire fraud and making false statements.
‘Clandestine exercise’ for Cuba
The transient listening to shed no new mild on the query that has proved elusive since Rocha’s arrest in December: What precisely did he do to assist Cuba whereas working on the State Division for twenty years? That included stints as ambassador to Bolivia and high posts in Argentina, Mexico, the White Home and the U.S. Pursuits Part in Havana.
His post-government profession additionally included time as a particular adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command and extra not too long ago as a tough-talking Donald Trump supporter and Cuba hardliner, a persona that mates and prosecutors say Rocha adopted to cover his true allegiances.
Peter Lapp, who oversaw FBI counterintelligence towards Cuba between 1998 and 2005, stated the quick decision of the case advantages not solely the aged Rocha but in addition the federal government, which stands to be taught so much about Cuba’s penetration of U.S. international coverage circles.
Usually in counterintelligence instances, the defendant is charged with espionage. However Rocha was accused of the lesser crimes of appearing as a international agent, which carry most phrases of between 5 and 10 years in jail, making it simpler for prosecutors and Rocha to achieve an settlement.
“It is a win-win for either side,” stated Lapp, who led the investigation into Ana Belén Montes, the highest-level U.S. official ever convicted of spying for Cuba. “He will get a major payoff and the prospect to see his household once more, and the U.S. will be capable to conduct a full harm evaluation that it would not be capable to do with out his co-operation.”
“There are particulars that may actually solely come from the defendant,” he added.
Rocha was arrested by the FBI at his Miami residence in December on allegations that he engaged in “clandestine exercise” on Cuba’s behalf since no less than 1981 — the yr he joined the U.S. international service — together with by assembly with Cuban intelligence operatives and offering false info to U.S. authorities officers about his contacts
Rocha made a collection of recorded admissions to an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence operative, praising the late Cuban chief Fidel Castro as “comandante,” branded the U.S. the “enemy” and bragged about his service for greater than 40 years as a Cuban mole within the coronary heart of U.S. international coverage circles, prosecutors stated in courtroom information.
“What we now have performed … it is monumental … greater than a Grand Slam,” he was quoted as saying at one among a number of secretly recorded conversations.
Harm evaluation will final years
Federal authorities have stated little about what Rocha really did to assist Cuba, and FBI and State Division investigators have been conducting a confidential harm evaluation that might take years.
However a latest Related Press investigation discovered there have been loads of missed pink flags over time.
These included a tip {that a} longtime CIA operative obtained in 2006 warning that Rocha was working as a double agent. It was by no means pursued. And separate intelligence revealed that the CIA had been conscious as early as 1987 that Castro had a “tremendous mole” burrowed deep contained in the U.S. authorities, and a few officers suspected it may have been Rocha.
Rocha’s choice to plead responsible Thursday got here simply hours after the widow of a outstanding Cuban dissident who was killed in a mysterious automotive crash filed a wrongful-death lawsuit towards the previous diplomat. The lawsuit accuses Rocha of sharing intelligence that emboldened Cuba’s communist leaders to assassinate a chief opponent.
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