Cuba spy Ana Belen Montes released after 20 years behind bars

FILE PHOTO: An undated handout image from a U.S. Department of Defense report dating back to 2005 shows Ana Belen Montes receiving a national intelligence certificate of distinction from George Tenet, who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency. U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Ana Belen Montes, one of the highest-ranking U.S. officials ever proven to have spied for Cuba, has been released from prison early, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons confirmed Friday, after she spent more than two decades behind bars.

Montes, 65, had in 2002 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage after she was accused of using her leading position as a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) official to leak information, including identities of some U.S. spies, to Havana.