Wife of imprisoned State Department worker visits Cuba

HAVANA , June 25 (UPI) -- Judy Gross, the wife of a U.S. State Department contractor imprisoned in Cuba, arrived in Havana in an attempt to free him.

Alan Gross, a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor, was convicted in 2011 and is serving a 15-year sentence in a Havana military hospital for bringing satellite communications equipment to Cuba. Authorities claimed he was attempting to install illegal Internet connections.

Alan's mother died in the United States last week after a battle with cancer, his attorney Scott Gilbert said, and Alan's request to return to the U.S. -- with a promise to return to Cuba -- was denied. Since his arrest, Alan has been on a since-suspended hunger strike and has suffered a number of health problems, Gilbert said.

Judy Gross and Gilbert arrived in Havana Tuesday, and boarded a bus at the airport provided by the Cuban government, without making a statement.

Cuban officials have indicated they seek negotiations with the United States over Alan's imprisonment, in connection with the U.S. incarceration of three Cuban intelligence operatives. U.S. officials have refused, contending Alan was not working in Cuba as a spy.