Former career US diplomat admits spying for Cuban intelligence for decades

Manuel Rocha (State Department via AP, File)

A former US ambassador has said he will admit serving as a secret agent for communist Cuba going back decades, bringing an unexpectedly fast resolution to a case prosecutors described as one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the US foreign service.

Manuel Rocha, 73, told a federal judge he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, charges that each carry a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison.