Sources identify mystery man freed in historic U.S.-Cuba deal

Sources identify mystery man freed in historic U.S.-Cuba deal
By Joe Johns and Dana Ford, CNN
December 19, 2014 -- Updated 0236 GMT (1036 HKT)

Sources inside the government and out tell CNN his name is Rolando
Sarraff Trujillo
He was released along with Alan Gross, in exchange for three convicted
Cuban spies
Sarraff, a Cuban national, spent two decades in prison

(CNN) -- Upon his release from prison, he was described by President
Barack Obama as "one of the most important intelligence agents that the
United States has ever had in Cuba."
Yet very little is known about the man.
U.S. officials have refused to release the spy's name, but sources
inside the government and out tell CNN his name is Rolando Sarraff Trujillo.
Sarraff, a Cuban national, was part of a historic deal reached this week
between the United States and Cuba. He spent two decades in prison.
He was released along with Alan Gross, an American subcontractor held
for five years, in exchange for three convicted Cuban spies.
"This man -- whose sacrifice has been known to only a few -- provided
America with the information that led us to arrest the network of Cuban
agents that included the men transferred to Cuba today as well as other
spies in the United States," Obama said Wednesday.
Who was released?
Sarraff, now in his early 50s, was discovered and convicted of espionage
in Cuba in 1995.
According to the office of the director of national intelligence, he
provided the U.S. government with information that "was instrumental in
the identification and disruption of several Cuban intelligence
operatives in the United States and ultimately led to ... successful
federal espionage prosecutions."
Specifically, the U.S. intelligence office tied Sarraff to the
conviction of one-time Defense Intelligence Agency senior analyst Ana
Belen Montes, who was sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty of
spying for the Cuban government in 2002.
Why the Cuba deal happened now
He's also tied to the case of ex-State Department official Walter
Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, who pleaded guilty in 2009 for
illegally aiding the Cuban government for decades.
Sarraff played a role in helping federal authorities go after the
Florida-based Wasp Network, including members of the Cuban Five. Three
of those five were released this week as part of the deal.
"Securing his release from prison after 20 years -- in a swap for three
of the Cuban spies he helped put behind bars -- is fitting closure to
this Cold World chapter of U.S.-Cuban relations," the DNI office said.

Source: Sources identify mystery man freed in U.S.-Cuba deal - CNN.com -
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/cuba-us-agent-released/