Guilty pleas in Cuba spying case

Dec. 19, 2006, 12:14PM
Guilty pleas in Cuba spying case
By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Writer

MIAMI — A psychology professor and his wife pleaded guilty Tuesday to
reduced federal charges in a case involving allegations that both had
spied for the Cuban government for decades.

Carlos Alvarez, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to become an
unregistered foreign agent. His 56-year-old wife, Elsa Alvarez, admitted
knowing about her husband's illegal activities but failing to report
them to authorities.

Carlos Alvarez faces up to five years in prison and his wife up to three
years on the revised charges. Both were charged previously with the more
serious charge of acting as illegal Cuban agents, which carries a longer
possible prison sentence.

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

Carlos Alvarez, a professor at Florida International University, was
accused of spying for decades on Cuban-American exile groups and
prominent individuals in Miami, as well as reporting on U.S. political
affairs. His wife, also a university employee, was implicated to a
lesser degree in the alleged spying.

The couple's arrests in January followed years of FBI surveillance,
which included placing a listening device in the bedroom of their Miami
home and wiretaps on their telephone. The FBI said Carlos Alvarez, known
to the Cubans by the code name "David," used a short-wave radio and
encryption techniques to communicate with his Cuban handlers.

Carlos Alvarez's lawyer, Steve Chaykin, said his client was never a
Cuban intelligence agent and is not a supporter of Castro.

"His involvement with the Cuban intelligence agency was the result of
idealism and naivete," Chaykin said.

Jane Moscowitz, attorney for Elsa Alvarez, said her client played a far
lesser role. "Her offense is being a wife," Moscowitz said.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta called the case "a stark reminder that
there are among us some who, while enjoying the freedom and liberty our
great nation offers, continue to serve the interests of another master."

The guilty pleas came after a federal judge last month upheld as
evidence a lengthy statement Carlos Alvarez gave to the FBI in 2005.
Alvarez admitted in those interviews he was a "collaborator" with Cuba's
intelligence service beginning in 1977, but insisted he was mainly
interested in opening dialogue with the communist government.

Carlos Alvarez's attorneys unsuccessfully tried to have that confession
thrown out, contending that he was coerced into submitting to the FBI
interviews and that he was promised immunity for prosecution if he
cooperated. FBI agents admitted during hearings this summer that their
goal was to recruit Carlos Alvarez as a double agent.

One conversation captured by the bedroom bug has Carlos Alvarez
expressing relief to his wife that he'd told the FBI about his Cuban
activities.

"Right now, for me, it was a relief that I was able to cooperate. It's
been hell. It's been hell. I really saw it as a huge confession. It was
an opportunity for me to confess what I've done wrong," he told his
wife, according to government transcripts.

Carlos Alvarez has been jailed without bail since his arrest 11 months
ago. Elsa Alvarez is free on $400,000 bail.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4412939.html