Héctor Cabrera Fuentes in Berlin (Germany). With kind approval
Mexican scientist Héctor Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes is about to regain his freedom. The researcher was sentenced in June 2022 to four years in prison for espionage in the United States for acting as a foreign agent in the service of the Russian government. The 38-year-old biochemist has been incarcerated in Florida since 2020 and has already served his sentence, EL PAÍS confirms in the US prison registry, where the release date is apparently scheduled for this Sunday. However, Cabrera Fuentes is not yet released as deportation will require him to complete immigration procedures, which could delay his return to his country of origin by a few weeks, according to Ronald Gainor, his lawyer.
Cabrera Fuentes’ life changed completely when he was arrested at Miami Airport on February 17, 2020. Before boarding a flight to Mexico City, the young investigator confessed to FBI agents that he had been pressured by the Kremlin to become an informant and to track and photograph an FBI agent in the United States. He should fulfill this mission while passing through Florida. Russian intelligence services asked him to locate the victim’s car, obtain his number plate and note the vehicle’s location.
The admission ended a promising career in cardiology and neuroscience. Cabrera Fuentes was born in El Espinal, a small town in the state of Oaxaca, one of the poorest states in Mexico. In 2004, he received a scholarship and went to the Russian city of Voronezh to study at the university, without speaking a word of Russian and at a time when xenophobic attacks were common. In fact, he was attacked once. After a difficult start, he moved to Kazan to complete his studies in microbiology, the discipline he had been passionate about since childhood. He also did his master’s degree in Russia and received the award for the best thesis from the then President Dmitry Medvedev. He graduated with honors from the University of Giessen in Germany and has worked in Asia. Before his arrest, he held positions at Duke University Medical School and the National University of Singapore.
Héctor Cabrera accompanied by students in El Espinal. With kind approval
The news caused a stir in El Espinal, where Cabrera Fuentes is remembered as a hero of his academic achievements and a scientist committed to his people. He founded a charity to bring science closer to young people, providing out-of-pocket scholarships and sponsoring trips abroad for groups of boys interested in his work. He often sought practical applications of his research to improve living conditions in his home country, creating a prototype home after the earthquakes that struck Oaxaca in 2017 and using regenerative treatments to promote the health of residents. After his arrest, friends and relatives pointed out that the vast majority of academics who had supported his work eventually turned their backs on him.
Court records in the United States show that Cabrera Fuentes and his wife slipped into a housing estate to take pictures of the car they were supposed to be following him, but were spotted by security forces. That was the trigger for his questioning at Miami Airport. US agents also discovered photos of the car that his wife sent to him via WhatsApp, which were in the Deleted Files folder on his phone. The couple were questioned in separate rooms until the investigator released a confession, urging his wife to continue her trip to Mexico while his acquaintances said he stayed in Florida to clean up the mess.
The course of the investigation revealed that Cabrera Fuentes had a second wife and two daughters in Russia. He married her while studying in Kazan, which nobody in Mexico knew about. This second family lived in Germany but had returned to their home country to clear immigration and administrative procedures and were then not allowed to leave Russian territory. The scientist was contacted by an official of Vladimir Putin’s government, who promised to solve his relatives’ problem in exchange for performing intelligence tasks. The researcher began collaborating with Moscow in 2018.
Héctor Cabrera, in Kazan (Russia). With kind approval
Cabrera Fuentes initially pleaded not guilty, but pleaded guilty earlier last year and threatened false disclosure charges and a harsher sentence if a jury found him guilty. “We all make mistakes in life and this is the biggest of mine,” he said during the June 2022 sentencing hearing. The scientist expressed his remorse in a Miami court and received the sentence alone, urging his loved ones to not to go to court. “This tragic experience taught me that freedom and family are the most important things you have,” he said. According to prison records, he was transferred to Jesup Federal Penitentiary in southern Georgia.
The case was influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as statements by senior US military commanders warning that Mexico was the largest operations center for Russian espionage abroad. Amid a geopolitical tangle, his lawyers and family have defended that he is a man trapped by circumstances. “We have always been proud and will continue to be,” said Héctor Cabrera, his father, in a letter to the court. “I ask God that you continue to fly and do what you love, that you continue to contribute your knowledge to humanity,” wrote Lucila Fuentes, her mother.
“He’s a natural leader, but he trusts people too much,” said Victor Serebruany, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s clear that his international exposure left him vulnerable to being exploited and taken advantage of by bad guys,” he added. Other court documents confirmed that the scientist was well behaved behind bars and spent his time doing maintenance work, although details of his time in prison are scarce.
The negotiations with the public prosecutor’s office provide for a three-year release under supervision and an amicable deportation. Sources familiar with the case told EL PAÍS that the procedures for completing their return to Mexico depend on the immigration officer handling their case and the waiting time usually varies. His lawyer said he has no plans to make any press statements after his release from prison. After more than three years of comings and goings, those around him want to turn the tide. The spy story that has held an entire Oaxacan town captive seems to have come to an end.
Subscribe here Subscribe to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the important information about current events in this country