Professor, wife plead guilty to reduced charges in Cuba spying case

Professor, wife plead guilty to reduced charges in Cuba spying case
By Vanessa Blum
sun-sentinel.com
Posted December 19 2006, 10:57 AM EST

MIAMI -- A longtime Florida International University professor and his
wife accused of being illegal Cuban agents pleaded guilty to criminal
charges Tuesday morning in federal court.

Psychology professor Carlos Alvarez, 61, admitted he agreed to work as
an agent for Cuba's intelligent service, passing on information related
to individuals and groups in the Cuban exile community. He faces up to
five years in prison.

His wife, Elsa Alvarez, 56, pleaded guilty to knowing about her
husband's communications with Cuba and not notifying law enforcement.
She faces a maximum three-year prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Michael Moore set sentencing for Feb. 27.

Federal authorities arrested the couple last year on the more serious
charge of acting as Cuban agents. Prosecutors said the Alvarezes used
the code names David and Deborah and provided information to Havana for
decades through encrypted radio communications.

The couple, who were not charged with sharing any classified or
government information, faced up to 10 years in prison on the original
charges.

Attorney Jane Moscowitz who represents Elsa Alvarez said the
government's reduced charges vindicate her client and demonstrate she
was never an agent for Cuba.

Lawyer Steven Chaykin who represents Carlos Alvarez said the professor
was a victim of his own "naïve idealism."

"Dr. Alvarez has never been a communist. He has never been a Castro
supporter or sympathizer," Chaykin said. "He never intended to hurt any
group, any individual, or most importantly his country."

A month ago, a federal magistrate judge refused to toss out the lengthy
statements Carlos Alvarez gave FBI agents last year that formed the core
of the government's case against him.

Alvarez spoke about code names, clandestine meetings and safe houses,
according to transcripts of his accounts.

Alvarez said he provided information about Cuban-American exile groups,
scholars and politicians, including FIU President Modesto Maidique and
former U.S. State Department official Lula Rodriguez.

The Cuban government never paid him for information, Alvarez said. He
said he initially saw the communication as a harmless way to open a
dialogue between Cuba and the United States, but eventually became
disillusioned and uneasy about his dealings with Cuban intelligence.

He testified in an August court hearing he stopped providing information
in 1998. He had been charged in the indictment as acting as an illegal
Cuban agent from 1977 to 2005.

Carlos Alvarez, a father of five, has been behind bars without bond
since his arrest. Moore denied releasing him in October, finding that
prosecutors had proved he posed a flight risk.

Elsa Alvarez, an FIU counselor, spent six months behind bars before her
June release on $400,000 bond.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-1219cubanspying,0,1922692.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba