Mexican scientist awaits sentencing for acting as Russian spy in Miami

MIAMI – Hector Cabrera was spying on a confidential informant in Miami-Dade County who had previously provided information about the Russian government to the U.S. government, according to prosecutors.

Cabrera, 36, arranged for an intermediary to lease an apartment in a Miami condominium building where the U.S. confidential source lived and he followed the source, according to federal prosecutors in Miami.

FBI special agents in the counterintelligence division concluded Cabrera’s behavior was an example of Russian intelligence services’ tactics “for spotting, assessing, recruiting and handling intelligence assets and sources.”

Cabrera, a Mexican physician and scientist who was doing research in Singapore, earned doctorates in molecular microbiology from Kazan Federal University in Russia and molecular cardiology from the Justus Liebig University of Giessen in Germany, court records show.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested Cabrera before he boarded a flight to Mexico City on Feb. 16, 2020, at Miami International Airport. While agents questioned him, he said he was traveling with his wife from Mexico, and his spying in Miami was related to his wife in Russia, according to the Feb. 18, 2020 complaint.

Cabrera has been held without bond at a federal prison in Miami. He pled guilty on Tuesday to acting within the U.S. on behalf of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, as it’s required by law.

Cabrera’s sentencing in Miami federal court is on May 17. Prosecutors recommended four years in prison. The maximum sentence is 10 years.

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