Professor accused of spying for Cuba won't be released before trial

Posted on Fri, Oct. 27, 2006

Professor accused of spying for Cuba won't be released before trial
BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

A Florida International University professor charged with being an
unregistered agent of Cuba's communist government won't be released
before trial, a Miami federal judge ruled Friday.

Carlos Alvarez, 61, who is accused of informing on the exile community
for Cuban leader Fidel Castro's intelligence arm, could flee to Cuba if
he's freed before the January trial, U.S. District Judge K. Michael
Moore said. He denied Alvarez's bid for bond.

The father of five has been detained at the Federal Detention Center in
downtown Miami since January, when he was arrested along with his wife,
who faces the same charge but is free on bond.

''The evidence has shown that the government of the Republic of Cuba
appreciates the work that [Alvarez] has performed for it and has
acknowledged his efforts with commendations,'' Moore wrote. ``It is,
therefore, a substantial likelihood that defendant would choose to flee.''

Alvarez's lawyer, Steve Chaykin, said he could not comment because he
was out of town and had not read the ruling.

In the decision, Moore takes a harsh view of Alvarez, a longtime FIU
psychology professor, who was charged along with his wife, Elsa, an FIU
counselor. After her initial detention, she was released in June.

Moore noted then that the ``weight of the evidence against defendant
Elsa Alvarez was substantially different than that against Defendant
Carlos Alvarez.''

He gave self-incriminating statements to FBI agents in the summer of
2005 because he believed they would not charge him if he cooperated with
them. His lawyer has asked the judge to suppress that evidence, the core
of the U.S. attorney's case against him.

Prosecutors say Carlos Alvarez allegedly operated as an agent of Cuba
from 1978 to July 2005, traveled to Cuba at least 12 times during that
period, and met with Castro agents in New York and Mexico. In 2002-04,
he also ''persisted in maintaining contact with the Cuban Intelligence
Service over the objections of his wife,'' according to court records.

In the 14-page ruling, Moore said Alvarez ``was willing to divulge
private information about persons in the community and conceal his
efforts to do so by using encryption [on computer disks] and other
evasive strategies.''

Moore stopped short of saying Alvarez was a danger to the community,
another factor considered for bond.

The judge said Alvarez might pose a ``hypothetical danger.''

The Alvarez couple, if convicted, face up to 10 years in prison.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/email/news/breaking_news/15867584.htm