WASHINGTON (voa) – A senior U.S. intelligence analyst has admitted being a Cuban spy for 16 years while working at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington.
Ana Belen Montes pleaded guilty Tuesday to espionage. Under an agreement with federal prosecutors she faces up to 25 years in prison.
Montes was arrested at the agency headquarters last September and charged with conspiracy to deliver U.S. national defense information to Cuba. Prosecutors say Montes spied for Cuba from the time she started working for the agency in 1985 until her arrest. They also say she had specialized in Cuban matters for the agency since 1992.
Investigators allege Montes communicated with her Cuban contacts using coded pager messages and shortwave radio.
They say the 45-year-old former analyst also exchanged computer disks containing encrypted messages with the Cubans. U.S. investigators found messages from Cuban intelligence sources on her home computer. Montes also was accused of revealing the identity of four undercover U.S. agents to Cuban intelligence. Reports say the agents are safe.
