Alan Gross

For the professor of rhetoric and communication studies, see Alan G. Gross.

Alan Gross
Alan Gross talking on the phone
Alan Gross talking on the phone with President Barack Obama, 2014
Born
Alan Phillip Gross

(1949-05-02) May 2, 1949 (age 75)
Rockville Centre, New York, U.S.
OccupationUnited States government contractor employed by U.S. Agency for International Development
Criminal statusReleased
SpouseJudith Gross
Criminal penalty5 years in prison for importing banned technology with the intent of establishing clandestine Internet service[1][2][3][4]
Imprisoned atCarlos J. Finlay Military Hospital, Havana

Alan Phillip Gross (born May 2, 1949)[5] is a former United States government contractor employed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In December 2009 he was arrested in Cuba while working on a program funded under the 1996 Helms–Burton Act,[6] which explicitly called for overthrow of Castro's government.[7] He was prosecuted in 2011 after being accused of crimes against the Cuban state for furtively bringing military-grade communication equipment designed to evade detection to members of Cuba's Jewish community.[8] After being accused of working for American intelligence services in January 2010, he was convicted of spying and for "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" in March 2011.[9] US sources widely rejected the idea that Gross was a spy, though some noted the "covert" nature of Gross's work.[10][11][12] Gross noted in his field reports his awareness of the risks he was taking in his mission. He was released from Cuban prison on December 17, 2014, and returned to the US in exchange for the release and return of three Cubans convicted of espionage.[13]

While serving his prison sentence, his wife Judy Gross, sued Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) and USAID for $60 million in federal court. The company settled for an undisclosed sum. The amount is in addition to the $3.2 million that USAID agreed to pay Gross and DAI in the November before his release.[7]

  1. ^ "American Alan Gross Completes 5th Year in Cuban Prison". VOA. December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "Wife Says Alan Gross' Health, Spirits Failing; Worried He'll Do 'Something Drastic'". Fox News Latino. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  3. ^ "White House renews call for Cuba to release Alan Gross". Fox News Latino. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  4. ^ "American Alan Gross completes fifth year in Cuban prison". Reuters. December 3, 2014. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  5. ^ "Immediate and Unconditional Release of United States Citizen Alan Phillip Gross". Congressional Record. 158 (155). United States Government Printing Office. December 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference forward146401 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Stoehr, John (January 27, 2015). "The real story behind Alan Gross's work in Cuba". TheHill. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference washingtonpost2011/08/05 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Sentence" (PDF). People's Provincial Tribunal of Havanna.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Archibold, Randal (March 12, 2011). "Cuba Gives 15-Year Prison Term to American". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Farley, Robert (December 23, 2014). "What Was Alan Gross Doing in Cuba?". FactCheck.org. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  12. ^ "Exclusive: One Year Of Freedom: One-On-One With Alan Gross, Pt. 1". CBS. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  13. ^ Elise Labott, "Cuba releases American Alan Gross in prisoner swap Archived December 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine", CNN (December 17, 2014).