Jewish-American contractor Alan Gross sentenced to 15 years in Cuba jail

Court said prosecutors proved case that Gross was working on a subversive program, paid for by the U.S., that aimed to bring down Cuba's revolutionary system.

A Cuban court found U.S. contractor Alan Gross guilty of crimes against the state and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, a verdict that is sure to have sweeping repercussions for already-sour relations between Washington and Havana.

The court said prosecutors had proved their case that Gross, 61, was working on a subversive program, paid for by the United States, that aimed to bring down Cuba's revolutionary system. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence.

The Maryland native was arrested in December 2009 while on a USAID backed democracy-building project. The U.S. government and Gross's family say he was working to improve Internet access for the island's Jewish community and should be released. Cuban officials have called him a mercenary and maintained his motives were more nefarious. The court said the program that Gross worked on - part of a $20 million Washington effort to support democracy on the island - showed that the U.S. government continues to seek the government's overthrow.

The court found that "evidence demonstrated the participation of the North American contractor in a subversive project of the U.S. government that aimed to destroy the revolution through the use of communications systems out of the control of authorities," according to a statement read out on the afternoon news.