A former National Security Council member and U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, who admitted to secretly acting as an agent for the government of the Republic of Cuba, blames the radical politics pushed on him during his formative college years for turning on his country.<\/p>\n
A federal judge sentenced 73-year-old Victor Manuel Rocha of Miami to 15 years in prison last week for working against the U.S. government for decades for communist Cuba in \u2018clandestine intelligence-gathering missions.\u2019<\/p>\n
Before the judge handed down the sentence, Rocha issued a statement on his guilty plea, which was shared by Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., on X.<\/p>\n
\u2018I am a 73-year-old man. During my formative years in college, I was heavily influenced by the radical politics of the day,\u2019 Rocha said. \u2018My deep commitment at that time to radical social change in the region led me to the eventual betrayal of my oath of loyalty to the United States during my two decades in the State Department.\u2019<\/p>\n
Rocha graduated from Yale University in 1973 before going on to earn his master\u2019s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1976, then a master\u2019s degree in international relations from Georgetown University in 1978, according to the State Department\u2019s website archives.<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital reached out to Yale for a comment regarding Rocha\u2019s statement. The university declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Rocha was\u00a0a former U.S. Department of State employee who served on the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995, and as U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002.<\/p>\n
According to a criminal complaint from the DOJ, Rocha used his employment in the State Department between 1981 and 2002 to obtain classified information and affect U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Following his employment at the State Department, Rocha transferred in 2006 as an advisor to the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, a joint command of the U.S. military whose area of responsibility includes Cuba.<\/p>\n
The DOJ said that Rocha provided false and misleading information to the U.S. to maintain his secret status, traveled outside the U.S. to meet with Cuban intelligence operatives and made false and misleading statements to obtain travel documents.<\/p>\n
After serving the foreign service, he settled in Miami as a businessman in the private sector.<\/p>\n
\u2018Today, I no longer see the world through the radical eyes of my youth,\u2019 Rocha said in his statement. \u2018I left the Government 22 years ago, moved to this great city, and dedicated the rest of my life to my family and the education of my children. My long and successful transition to the private sector culminated in my becoming a top international executive in the mining sector for well over a decade.<\/p>\n
\u2018The latter, however, cannot erase the damage done during my earlier career working for the Government,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n
Rocha told the judge he takes full responsibility for his actions and accepts the penalty he has to pay.<\/p>\n
\u2018Importantly, I am making, and will continue to make as required, significant amends through my unconditional collaboration to those I have betrayed,\u2019 the former ambassador said. \u2018I know that my actions have caused great pain to my family, former colleagues, and the closest of friends. I ask them all for their understanding and their forgiveness.\u2019<\/p>\n
The judge accepted Rocha\u2019s guilty plea to counts 1 and 2 of the indictment, which charged him with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiring to defraud the U.S. and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice as required by law.<\/p>\n
He was then sentenced to the statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, three years of supervised release and a special assessment.\u00a0<\/p>\n