APNewsBreak: US Judge allows spy to stay in Cuba [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

APNewsBreak: US Judge allows spy to stay in Cuba
By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer
Updated 1:25 pm, Friday, May 3, 2013

MIAMI (AP) — One of the convicted spies known as the "Cuban Five" will be able to permanently remain in Cuba in exchange for renouncing his U.S. citizenship, a federal judge ruled Friday after U.S. officials dropped their initial opposition.

Rene Gonzalez, 56, has been in Cuba since April 22 to attend memorial services for his father, who died earlier last month. Gonzalez was released from U.S. prison in October 2011 but was still serving three years' probation, which the Justice Department had previously insisted must be completed in the U.S.

This week, however, the Justice Department reversed its position, leading to U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard's ruling accepting Gonzalez's offer to give up U.S. citizenship.

Reached in Havana, Gonzalez told The Associated Press he was thrilled but wanted a chance to review the judge's decision.

"First I have to read the order," he said. "If the order is real, it will be a great relief to me."

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