Arrests, Convictions and Sentences
All five were arrested in Miami, on September 12, 1998 and were indicted by the U.S. government on 25 different counts, including charges of false identification and conspiracy to commit espionage. Seven months later, an additional indictment was added for Gerardo Hernández - conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the shoot-down of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft. The additional charge followed months of public and media debate in Miami, with Cuban exile groups pressing for the charge.
Hernández states that from the day of their arrests, five spent 17 months in solitary confinement. The President of the Cuban National Assembly Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada stated that evidence that "belonged to the defendants themselves and included family photographs, personal correspondence and recipes" - was classified as "secret", preventing the defendants and their attorneys from seeing it.
The trial, beginning in November 2000, went on for seven months, although jury deliberations lasted a few hours. In June 2001, the group was convicted of all 26 counts in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, including the charge of first-degree murder against Gerardo Hernandez which the prosecution had applied to withdraw. The prosecution had tried to withdraw the case when it became clear that the judge's jury instructions would specify that the murder charge required that the deaths occurred within U.S. jurisdiction, which it had been unable to show. The prosecution also applied for an emergency writ, which was denied, that the instructions should exclude reference to jurisdiction.
In December 2001, the members of the group were sentenced to varying prison terms: two life terms for Hernández, to be served consecutively; life for Guerrero and Labañino; 19 years for Fernando Gonzáles; and 15 years for René Gonzáles. In addition, the prosecution sought the post-release deportation of the three Cuban-born members, and for the two U.S.-born members, a post-release sentence of "incapacitation", imposing specific restrictions on them after their release, which would be enforced by the FBI. The restrictions ban them from "associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists, members of organizations advocating violence, and organized crime figures are known to be or frequent."
A 2011 NPR report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.
Read more about this topic: Cuban Five
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