Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 17, 2002
Confessed Cuban spy sentenced
WASHINGTON -- A senior U.S. intelligence analyst, who confessed to spying for Cuba over 16 years, defiantly rebuked American policies toward Fidel Castro as "cruel and unfair" as she was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison on espionage charges.
Ana Belen Montes, 45, refused to formally apologize for her actions, leaving prosecutors disappointed. Montes worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency as one of the Pentagon's most senior experts on Cuba's military.
"I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it," Montes told the judge, explaining the motivation behind her actions.
"We have displayed intolerance and contempt toward Cuba for most of the last four decades. We have never respected Cuba's right to make its own journey toward its own ideals of equality and justice." she said, reading from a two-page, typed statement.
Prosecutors, who accepted the sentence under a plea agreement, accused Montes of disclosing to Cuba secrets so sensitive they cannot be described publicly. Court records said she provided documents that revealed the identity of four undercover agents, details about U.S. surveillance of Cuban weapons and information about a December 1996 war games exercise in the Atlantic.
PHILADELPHIA -- A jury on Wednesday began deliberating the fate of Ira Einhorn, the former hippie guru accused of killing his girlfriend in 1979.
William Cannon, Einhorn's attorney, said during his closing argument that the discovery of the mummified corpse in the apartment the couple shared is "just a piece of circumstantial evidence" that doesn't prove his client's guilt.
Prosecutor Joel Rosen said the evidence is overwhelming.
Jurors deliberated more than an hour Wednesday before retiring for the day. They were to resume their work today.
Einhorn, 62, is accused of killing Holly Maddux 25 years ago because she wanted to end their turbulent five-year relationship. He could get life in prison if convicted.
A lawyer for the Archdiocese of Boston said the church will soon begin turning over more than 50 years worth of church records, files that contain all "credible claims" of sexual misconduct by priests, after a state appellate judge Wednesday rejected the church's bid to keep the records secret.
Appeals Court Judge Kenneth Laurence denied an appeal of a Superior Court judge's order last month that the church give lawyers for alleged victims of the Rev. Paul Shanley documents showing how the archdiocese handled claims against about 87 other priests.
J. Owen Todd, who represents the archdiocese, said Laurence suggested that some documents could be deemed privileged. "We will begin going through them and figuring out which ones are privileged," Todd said. "Then we will start turning over documents."
BALTIMORE -- A woman who neighbors said tried to force drug dealers off her street corner was killed, along with five of her children, when fire tore through their home Wednesday.
It was the second fire to strike the corner rowhouse in two weeks, investigators said.
The only survivor of Wednesday's fire was the woman's husband, who was critically injured. He suffered third-degree burns and jumped from a second-floor window, fire officials said. The fire's cause is unknown.
Neighbor Gerlena Jackson said the woman killed, whom she identified as Angela Dawson, had argued for weeks with a group of teenage boys who hung out on the corner dealing drugs.
"They had words, they had confrontations. She was threatened," Jackson said. "She was a concerned mother, just like us all."
PHILADELPHIA -- The widow of a man who died after almost 10 months with an artificial heart on Wednesday sued the maker of the device and the hospital where it was implanted, saying her husband wasn't adequately informed of the ordeal he would endure.
James Quinn, who died Aug. 26 after suffering a stroke, came to regret taking part in the trial of the self-contained heart and had talked about suing several months before his death, said his attorney, Alan Milstein.
The suit, which seeks damages in excess of $100,000, says shortly before his death Quinn could barely breathe "and was in constant, unbearable pain with extreme burning sensations in his back and throat."
Spokeswoman Molly Tritt said officials at Hahnemann University Hospital hadn't seen the suit and wouldn't comment.
A message left with the heart manufacturer, Abiomed Inc., wasn't immediately returned.
SENATE PASSES DEFENSE SPENDING BILL: The Senate increased defense spending by the largest amount in decades Wednesday, approving $355.4-billion for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 with a 93-1 vote. The House approved the measure last week, 409-14. It now goes to President Bush.