Sun-Sentinel (Florida) - Cuban Exiles jailed for weapons stockpiling

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Sun-Sentinel (Florida)

Exiles jailed for weapons stockpiling

Cache hidden inside an apartment

By Vanessa Blum
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

November 15, 2006

Prominent Cuban exile Santiago Alvarez was sentenced to nearly four years in
prison Tuesday for his part in a conspiracy to stockpile weapons for
possible use against Cuba.

A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale imposed Alvarez's 46-month sentence
before a courtroom packed with relatives and supporters, closing a case that
infuriated some Cuban exiles.

U.S. District Judge James Cohn sentenced Alvarez's employee and longtime
friend, Osvaldo Mitat, to 37 months.

The men, both exiles and staunch opponents of Fidel Castro's communist
government, pleaded guilty in September to illegally storing weapons,
including six machine guns and a grenade launcher, in a Broward County
apartment complex owned by Alvarez, 65.

Authorities found the weapons cache as Mitat, 64, transported it from the
Lauderhill complex to another location. Prosecutors said the weapons were
intended for attacks on Castro's government.

Cohn called the men "perfect gentlemen" and "patriots" but said he could not
ignore the risk posed by the weapons.

"This court recognizes the ultimate objective and goal of Mr. Alvarez and
Mr. Mitat has always been a free and democratic Cuba," Cohn said.
"However... we are a nation of laws."

Cohn imposed prison terms at the low end of the range called for under
federal guidelines. In addition, he ordered Alvarez to pay a $10,000 fine.

The men, who were arrested in November 2005 and denied bond, will receive
credit for the year they have already spent in custody.

Attorneys for Alvarez and Mitat called the men freedom fighters in the mold
of America's founding fathers.

"This was not a crime of greed or ill will for his country, but a crime of
passion," said Mitat's attorney, Peter Prieto.

Alvarez and Mitat came to the United States as young men.

Both served in the U.S. Army and supported efforts to overthrow Castro in
the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, their attorneys said.

Alvarez became a successful real estate developer, known for his generosity
and his friendship with Luis Posada Carriles, a controversial anti-Castro
militant.

Cuban and Venezuelan authorities accuse Posada Carriles of orchestrating the
bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 that killed 73 people.

He was convicted in Panama for a plot to kill Castro and has been implicated
in other terrorist activities. When Posada Carriles mysteriously arrived in
Miami in 2005 after years in hiding, Alvarez acted as his chief spokesman.

Some Cuban exiles considered the government's charges against Alvarez and
Mitat reprisal for their aid to Posada, who is now in federal custody in El
Paso, Texas, on immigration charges. Supporters pushed unsuccessfully to
move the case from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, where the jury pool includes
more Cuban Americans and might be more sympathetic.

On the eve of trial in Fort Lauderdale, Alvarez and Mitat reached an
agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty.

Coral Gables resident Rene Guerra, part of a committee supporting the men,
wrote a letter to Cohn defending their actions.

"To us Cubans, it is an inherent responsibility to liberate our homeland, no
matter how adverse the conditions," he stated.

In a written statement, Alvarez said he accepted responsibility for
committing a crime.

"While I have always been passionately interested in a free and democratic
Cuba, I recognize that any conduct of mine must occur within the bounds of
the law," he said.

Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel