Mexican scientist pleads guilty of spying for Russia in Miami

A Mexican scientist pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of helping Russian agents surveil a U.S. government informant living in Miami, reported The Associated Press.

Prosecutors recommended a four-year sentence for Hector Cabrera Fuentes, 37, on a charge of acting on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. He will be sentenced on May 17.

The Mexican scientist claims he was approached by a Russian intelligence officer in 2019 when he was visiting his Russian wife and kids, who were in Moscow taking care of administrative matters. At the time, the Russian government did not allow his family to return to Germany, where they were living.

The intelligence officer approached Cabrera Fuentes, knowing about his family’s situation. “We can help each other,” the officer told him.

At a Russian official’s request, Cabrera Fuentes went to Miami and rented an apartment in the same complex where the informant was living. During this time, Cabrera Fuentes led a double life with two separate families, one from Mexico and another from Russia.

Cabrera Fuentes and his Mexican wife were tracking down the vehicle that belonged to the informant when they attracted the attention of a security guard.

He was arrested in 2020 at the Miami International Airport as he attempted to leave the U.S.

Before his arrest, Cabrera worked as an associate professor at a medical school in Singapore run in cooperation between the National University of Singapore and Duke University.

In 2018, he was appointed director of the FEMSA Biotechnology Center at the Monterrey Institute of Technology in northern Mexico. According to the Associated Press, he earned a doctorate degree in molecular microbiology in Russia and studied molecular cardiology in Germany.

The AP also reported that in Cabrera’s hometown of El Espinal, in the southern state of Oaxaca, the scientist was hailed as “something of a local hero, remembered for his work to promote scientific research, heal those suffering from diabetes and assist in the rebuilding of homes after devastating earthquakes.”

The town Mayor, Hazael Matus told the wire news service she suspected Moscow’s intelligence services may have targeted him because of his scientific research.

“It is very strange for this to happen because he is a very altruistic person with a lot of social conscience. He helped people and all this seems strange,” she told the AP after the arrest. “We don’t know what happened, but I bet it is a confusion or an attack for scientific reasons. He may have discovered something that upset some people or some business interests.”