INS Official Charged in Cuba Spy Case
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MIAMI — A U.S. immigration official charged with spying for Cuba was arrested after falling into a trap set by the FBI, investigators said Friday.
The FBI said it fed Mariano Faget, 54, phony information about a pending defection and then caught him passing it on 12 minutes later to a contact with ties to the Cuban government.
Faget, a Cuban-born supervisor in the Miami office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, may have been passing on classified information about Cuban defectors for some time, authorities said.
According to court papers, Faget met at least twice with Cuban intelligence officials in Miami, contacted officials with the agency that represents Cuba in Washington and had regular contact with the man he called last week in the sting--a New York businessman with ties to the Cuban government.
Faget, who was arrested Thursday, is charged with violating the Federal Espionage Act and making false statements to a federal officer. If convicted, the first charge carries up to 10 years in prison; the second could bring five years.
Appearing in court Friday, Faget was ordered held until a bail hearing Thursday.
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