Family In D.C. Says Prayer For Relative Held In Cuba
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The family of a man whom Cuban authorities sentenced to 15 years in prison said a special prayer for his return on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Washington resident Judy Gross celebrated Passover on Monday with family and kept a chair at the table empty for her husband Alan Gross.
A text used by the family said that if anyone "is prevented from being with his family, then we are all prevented from being with family."
Gross was arrested in December 2009 while on a trip to Cuba. The U.S. government and his family say he was improving Internet access for the island's Jewish community, but Cuban officials have accused him of being a spy and found him guilty of crimes against the state.
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