In his opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buckner detailed a sophisticated spy ring that gathered information from military operations and exile groups and relayed it back to the Cuban dictatorship.
Two of the defendants also are accused of taking part in the MiG warplane attack on two Brothers to the Rescue planes that resulted in the deaths of four fliers over the Florida Straits in 1996.
Defense attorney William Norris countered that none of the information sent back to Cuba was classified as secret, but it had to be transmitted clandestinely because of the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Defense attorneys also claimed that the attack on the two light planes over the Florida Straits was provoked by Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto, who had been "tormenting" the Cubans with flyovers for weeks.
The defendants were among 14 indicted in 1998. Five other defendants made plea bargains and are cooperating with the U.S. government. Four are still at large and believed to be in Cuba.
Among the five remaining defendants, Gerardo Hernandez is accused of being the ringleader and faces murder conspiracy charges in the MiG attack. He could face life in prison if convicted.
If convicted, Luis Medina and Antonio Guerrero also could face life sentences. Ruben Campa and Rene Gonzalez could face 10-year prison terms if they are convicted of being unregistered foreign agents.
Hernandez, Medina and Guerrero are accused of entering U.S. military installations to gather defense secrets to give to Cuba.
The six-man, six-woman jury contains no Cuban-Americans. All of the Cuban-American candidates were released by the defense over the objections of the prosecution.
The five Hispanics are naturalized U.S. citizens from South America and the Caribbean. The rest include three non-Hispanic whites, three blacks and an Asian.
The trial is expected to last until March.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.