A convicted Cuban intelligence agent who infiltrated the Boca Chica Naval Air Station in Key West - but didn't obtain or pass along state secrets to his handlers in Havana - saw his life sentence reduced to approximately 22 years on Tuesday.
Antonio Guerrero, convicted of espionage conspiracy in the highly publicized prosecution of the so-called "Cuban Five" spy defendants in 2001, had reached an agreement with the U.S. attorney's office to lower his sentence to 20 years.
But U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard rejected the proposed agreement as too lenient, sentencing Guerrero to two months shy of 22 years. She noted that although Guerrero did not obtain top secret information from the U.S. government, "the evidence did indicate that he very much wanted to."
She said the sentence was "reasonable and just and reflects the seriousness of the offense."
Last year, Lenard was criticized by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta for imposing the life sentence, which the court considered excessive because of insufficient evidence of harm to national security.
Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com
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