Cold War spy released after 20 years in US prison

Ana Montes, a former US intelligence analyst found guilty of spying for Cuba in one of the most high-profile espionage cases of the Cold War, has been released after 20 years in federal prison. Now 65, Montes spied for Cuba for almost two decades while working at the US Defence Intelligence Agency. She was arrested in September 2001 just 10 days after the 9/11 attacks, with one former Bush administration official describing her as “one of the most damaging spies the United States has ever found”.

Montes pleaded guilty in 2002 to conspiring to commit espionage as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She acknowledged revealing the identities of four undercover US agents to the Cuban authorities and had faced a possible death sentence if convicted. Federal prosecutors at the time said the four agents whose identities she revealed were not harmed.

Montes was released from a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She will be placed under court-ordered supervision – including having her internet usage monitored – for five years and is barred from working for government or contacting foreign agents without permission.