Jury convicts cuban agents in espionage trial

Five Cuban agents have been convicted in Miami of plotting espionage against the United States, and the leader of the group faces a life sentence for his role in a Cuban air force MiG attack that killed four US airmen.

After a six-month trial, the jury deliberated for five days before convicting the men on all counts. The agents showed no reaction as the verdict was read.

The jury found that Gerardo Hernandez contributed to the death of the four members of the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue who were shot down by Cuban MiGs in international airspace in 1996, an event that sparked widespread condemnation.

All five defendants were convicted of operating as foreign agents without notifying the US government and of conspiring to do so.

Three were convicted of espionage conspiracy for efforts to penetrate US military bases even though they acquired no US secrets.

‘‘This is justice. This is an act of God,’’ said Jose Basulto, the lone pilot to survive the MiG attack. ‘‘I’m glad the jury saw through all the lies given to them.’’

Prosecutors presented a black-and-white case based largely on 2,000 pages of decrypted communications peppered with communist jargon that were seized when the agents were indicted in 1998 as part of the 14-member so-called Wasp Network.

The defence referred to decades of US-Cuba conflict and said the agents’ primary mission had been to thwart extremist exiles who supported terrorism in Cuba, including a string of Havana bombings that killed one tourist and injured 12 other people in 1997.

The defence chose a 12-member non-Cuban jury with no close Cuban relatives or friends to reduce social pressure regarding the verdict in the largest Cuban community outside the communist country.

Relatives of the dead men sat through the entire trial.

Prosecutors accused Hernandez of being in on the plot to shoot down the planes on February 24 1996, because he warned two agents who infiltrated the group not to fly with them during a four-day period.

The defence argued he was prosecuted as a scapegoat for the Cuban government, which warned after nearly two years of airspace violations that intruders risked being shot down.

Flights by Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto included a low-level pass over Havana and a mission to drop 500,000 political leaflets at sea to be washed ashore. His plane crossed into Cuban airspace on the day of the attack.

Defence witnesses included two retired US generals and a retired US admiral who belittled Cuba as an empty military threat. The US government was portrayed as either unwilling or unable to act against exile groups with strong political support in their Miami stronghold.

To win conviction on the espionage conspiracy count, prosecutors had to prove that the defendants agreed to get non-public national defence information, not that they succeeded.

Both sides agreed the agents never obtained classified information, but the defence argued they were never instructed to get US secrets.

Hernandez faces life sentences on the conspiracy counts. Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero, who were assigned to study US military bases, also face life sentences on the espionage conspiracy count.

Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, who are not related, face up to 10 years in prison on charges of failing to register as foreign agents and of conspiracy.

Five others indicted as ring members pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation and reduced sentences, and four are fugitives believed to be in Cuba.

Among the fugitives is Juan Pablo Roque, a double agent and Cuban air force major who ostensibly defected in 1992, ingratiated himself with Brothers to the Rescue and secretly left Miami for Cuba the day before the MiG attack.