Federal Judge rejects plea agreement with former ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha

A federal judge rejected a plea deal for former career U.S. diplomat Manuel Rocha, who admitted working for decades as a secret agent for Cuba's communist dictatorship in a case prosecutors called one of the most brazen betrayals in the history of the U.S. Foreign Service.

Rocha, 73, appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday, April 12, to plead guilty to defrauding the U.S. government and conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government as part of a plea deal.

But the judge overseeing the case rejected the plea deal, which would have given Rocha 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, saying it lacks restitution for potential victims and does not include "denaturalization."

Cuban exiles demonstrated last April 9, in front of the federal court in Miami, to demand a "maximum sentence" against the former U.S. ambassador.

With Cuban and U.S. flags and signs in English and Spanish that read "Maximum sentence for the U.S. traitor," "Freedom for Cuba" and "Exile united," members of the Cuban Resistance Assembly and other exiles spoke out in the vicinity of the courthouse.

"Rocha not only betrayed the United States, the country he served in office, but may have had high complicity in crimes against humanity," Sylvia Iriondo, president of the exile group MAR por Cuba, told EFE.

In February, Rocha's defense reported that the former ambassador would plead guilty to two federal charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.

These charges carry a maximum penalty of between five and 10 years in prison on each count.

In exchange, the U.S. Attorney's Office would drop 13 counts of other crimes such as false statements and wire fraud.

Rocha's decision came hours after Ofelia Acevedo, widow of Oswaldo Payá, sued him for complicity in the death of the Cuban opposition leader.

Rocha was arrested in early December in Miami and appeared for the first time on December 4, 2023 before a Miami court on charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General and using a passport obtained through a false declaration.

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