US ex-diplomat sentenced to 15 years for spying for Cuba over decades

FILE PHOTO: Victor Manuel Rocha, who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, appears during an interview with an FBI undercover employee in Miami, Florida February 17, 2023 in a still image from video contained in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment. U.S. District Court/Southern District of Florida/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. diplomat was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday after admitting to acting as an agent of Cuba in what the Justice Department has called one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the U.S. government.

Victor Manuel Rocha, who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, pleaded guilty to two charges including acting as an illegal foreign agent. He was initially charged in December.