In an abrupt news of revelation, US diplomat, Manuel Rocha shambolically submits his acts of spying. He will plead guilty to charges of working for decades as a secret agent for communist Cuba, an unexpectedly swift resolution to a case prosecutors called one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. foreign service.
Shackled at the hands and ankles, Rocha responded, “I am in agreement,” when asked if he wanted to enter a guilty plea by the U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom. In return, the prosecution agreed to drop 13 counts, which included making false statements and wire fraud.
Following his announcement that he would admit to federal counts of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, Manuel Rocha,73, could face a lengthy prison sentence as the result of his stunning fall from grace.
During a hearing on Thursday, the prosecution and Rocha’s lawyer stated that the plea agreement includes a predetermined sentence, but they withheld specifics. His next court date is April 12, when he is expected to enter a formal guilty plea and receive a sentence.
The question that has remained unanswered since Rocha’s arrest in December was not resolved by the brief hearing: Specifically, what did he do to assist Cuba during his twenty years of employment at the State Department? Those included appointments to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, the White House, Mexico, Argentina, and Bolivia, among other prestigious positions. There are still a ton of questions that flow in the list of asking questions, but no one knows what will be answered and what not.
The elite of Miami knew “Ambassador Rocha,” as he liked to be called, for his aristocratic, almost regal, bearing appropriate for his Ivy League upbringing. According to friends and prosecutors, he had a career after leaving the government that included serving as a special adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command and, more recently, as a tough-talking supporter of Donald Trump and a hardliner on Cuba.
“Any sentence that allows him to see the light of day again would not be justice,” said Carlos Trujillo, a Miami attorney who served as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States during the Trump administration. “He’s a spy for a foreign adversary who puts American lives at risk.”
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