Biography
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo was the leader of the Wasp Network (La Red Avispa), the Cuban intelligence cell that operated in South Florida from the early 1990s gathering information on right-wing Cuban-American exile groups including Alpha 66, Brothers to the Rescue, and Omega 7 — groups that Cuba accused of carrying out attacks on Cuban tourist infrastructure. Arrested in Miami on September 12, 1998 along with four other agents. Tried in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He was convicted in June 2001 of conspiracy to commit espionage, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and conspiracy to commit murder for his alleged role in providing intelligence that allowed the Cuban Air Force to shoot down two Brothers to the Rescue Cessnas on February 24, 1996, killing four. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 15 years and held at USP Victorville and later USP Lompoc. He was released on December 17, 2014 in the U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap brokered by President Barack Obama and Pope Francis, and returned to a hero's welcome in Havana.
