Cuba convicts U.S. contractor of state crimes

HAVANA - A Cuban court on Saturday found U.S. contractor AlanGross guilty of crimes against the state and sentenced him to 15years in prison, a verdict that brought swift condemnation fromWashington.

The court said prosecutors had proved that Gross, 61, was workingon a "subversive" program paid for by the United States that aimedto bring down Cuba's revolutionary system.

Gloria Berbena, a spokeswoman for the U.S. diplomatic mission onthe island, called on Cuba to release Gross immediately.

"We reject and deplore this ruling," she said. "It is appallingthat the Cuban government seeks to criminalize what most of theworld deems normal, in this case access to information andtechnology."

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the White House's National SecurityCouncil, said the ruling "adds another injustice to Alan Gross'ordeal. We urge the immediate release of Mr. Gross so that he canreturn home to his wife and family."

Gross was arrested in December 2009 while on a USAID-backeddemocracy-building project. The U.S. government and Gross' familysay he was working to improve Internet access for the island'sJewish community and did nothing wrong.

Cuban officials have called him a mercenary and maintained hismotives were more nefarious. The court said the program that Grossworked on - part of a $20 million Washington-effort to supportdemocracy on the island - showed that the U.S. government continuesto seek the overthrow of the Cuban government.

The verdict is sure to have a chilling impact on relations. U.S.officials have said repeatedly that no rapprochement is possiblewhile Gross remains jailed.

Now that Gross has been convicted, his backers will try to gethim released through a court action or executive pardon, possibly onhumanitarian grounds.

Supporters, from Rev. Jesse Jackson to U.S. Jewish groups, havemade impassioned pleas to Cuban President Raul Castro to free Gross.Jackson offered to fly to Havana personally to mediate. However,such a process could take weeks or months to play out, if it happensat all.