Former U.S. ambassador Manuel Rocha to plead guilty to working as agent for Cuba

March 1 (UPI) -- Former U.S. ambassador Manuel Rocha told a federal court in Miami he plans to plead guilty to acting as an illegal foreign agent in a plea deal after initially fighting the charges.

Rocha, at one time a respected career diplomat who served as ambassador to Bolivia, pleaded guilty to counts of acting as an illegal agent for Cuba but told the court during a hearing Thursday he planned to change his plea.

He is scheduled to return to court for the formal plea change and sentencing on April 12 when prosecutors expect Rocha to enter guilty pleas to two counts of conspiring to act as a foreign agent, which each carrying sentences of up to 10 years, The New York Times reported. Prosecutors will drop other charges as part of the deal.

Rocha was charged in December for conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general, acting as an agent without to notification and using a passport obtained by false statement.

Rocha, 73, held several diplomatic posts in the State Department while working secretly for Cuba. FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time that Rocha violated his diplomatic oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution.

Rocha had served under President Bill Clinton as his director of Inter-American Affairs on the National Security Council and as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia under President George W. Bush. He also served on missions in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Argentina.