Ex-US official jailed for spying for Cuba

WASHINGTON - A former US official has been sentenced to life imprisonment for working as Cuban spy for nearly three decades.

Kendall Myers, 73, a former State Department analyst, was sentenced to life in prison Friday. His wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 72, who was also convicted for being part of the crime, received a sentence of six years and nine months, CNN reported.

Myers pleaded guilty last November to a conspiracy to commit espionage and wire fraud. While his wife admitted to one count of conspiracy to gather and transmit national defence information.

As part of their sentences, the couple also agreed to pay the government more than $1.7 million, a figure matching Kendall Myers’ estimated salary over the years while working for the US government and secretly spying for Cuba.

In a statement, Myers said he and his wife never wanted to harm Americans.

“We wish to add at this time that we acted as we did for 30 years because of our ideals and beliefs,” he said.

“We did not seek nor receive payment for our work. We did not act out of anger at the United States or from a feeling of anti-Americanism. Nor did we ever intend to hurt any individual Americans. Our overriding objective was to help the Cuban people defend their revolution. We also hoped to forestall conflict between the two countries.”

“We share the dreams and ideals of the Cuban revolution,” he added. “We are equally committed to helping the struggling people of the world, whether they are here at home or abroad.”

The two were arrested in June 2009 after meeting several times with an undercover FBI agent to whom they admitted their activities on behalf of Cuba. Those meetings were captured on video and audio tape.

According to court documents, the couple were motivated by Cuba’s former President Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution.

Myers told the undercover FBI agent he usually took information from the State Department by memorising it or taking notes, and on some occasions he took classified documents home. Gwendolyn said she would process the information to be delivered to their Cuban handlers, the document said.

They used a shortwave radio to communicate from their Columbia home with their Cuban handlers. The couple also admitted they met Cuban agents on overseas trips to various places, including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina.

Kendall Myers worked at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute and later at the department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He received a “top secret” security clearance in 1985.