Miami, Florida – A sinister plot to compromise national security has been foiled. Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, a 36-year-old Mexican citizen who has spent significant time in Russia, was sentenced to four years and one day in prison for acting within the United States on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General.
According to court documents, since 2019, Fuentes acted under the direction and control of someone he believed to be a Russian government official. Instructed by this Russian official, Fuentes arranged for an intermediary to lease a unit in a residential building in Miami-Dade County where a U.S. person, who had previously provided information about the Russian government to the United States Government, resided.
Furthermore, at the direction of the same Russian official, Fuentes traveled to Miami in February 2020 to obtain the license plate number and parking location of the U.S. person’s car to provide this information to the Russian official upon his next trip to Russia. His travel companion, at his request, took a photo of the U.S. person’s car. A WhatsApp message from Fuentes’s travel companion to Fuentes contained a close-up photograph of the specified U.S. person’s car.
Fuentes had not notified the United States Attorney General, as required by law, that he was acting in the United States as an agent of the Russian government. His actions are consistent with the tactics of the Russian intelligence services for spotting, assessing, recruiting, and handling intelligence assets and sources.
Fuentes pled guilty to the charge in February. U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks imposed the sentence, which included an order that the defendant be removed from the United States to Mexico promptly upon his release from confinement. The investigation into Fuentes’s activities was a joint effort between the FBI and CBP.
This case highlights the ongoing threat posed by foreign agents operating within the United States. The public should remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thakur and Trial Attorney Matt McKenzie. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 20-cr-20129.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Public Corruption|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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