American Alan Gross Released From Cuba After 5 Years In Prison [VIDEO]

(AP Photo/Sen. Jeff Flake)
(AP Photo/Sen. Jeff Flake)

U.S. A.I.D. contractor Allan Gross has been set free from a Cuban prison after five years, where he was serving a sentence for espionage. He’s flying back to the U.S. after many years on the communist island south of Florida.

FOX News Radio’s Eben Brown reports from Miami:

Alan Gross is now 65 years old and in poor health. He had been working in Cuba as a contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development when arrested by Cuban authorities in 2009… Accused of providing computers and satellite communications devices to the island nation’s Jewish community groups. It’s illegal to possess or sell such things in Cuba without a permit. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison there, convicted of being an American spy seeking to create political unrest against the Castro regime.

In Miami, Eben Brown, FOX News Radio.

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(AP Photo/Sen. Pat Leahy)
(AP Photo/Sen. Pat Leahy)

Alan Gross flew back to the United States after spending five years in a Cuban prison — and he had some company on the plane.

FOX News Radio’s Rachel Sutherland reports from Capitol Hill:

Some lawmakers were on board the flight that brought Alan Gross back home. Maryland Democrat Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona accompanied Gross home, along with his attorney and Judy Gross. While in the air, Gross got a call from President Obama. Congressman Van Hollen says it was an emotional journey and that, “Alan was thrilled to be back on American soil”.

At the Capitol, Rachel Sutherland, FOX News Radio.