Alan Gross, the former USAID subcontractor who spent five years in a Cuban prison before his release last week, will get $3.2 million from the federal government, part of a settlement with the Maryland-based company for which he worked at the time of his arrest.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, in a statement, said it had finalized a settlement, agreed to in principle in November, with Development Alternatives, Inc.
“The settlement ... calls for payment by USAID for unanticipated claims under the cost-reimbursement contract, including claims related to Mr. Alan Gross,” the statement said. “ The settlement avoids the cost, delay and risks of further proceedings, and does not constitute an admission of liability by either party.”
A USAID official said Gross will receive $3.2 million.
Gross and his wife had sued the federal government and DAI for gross negligence last year, but a federal judge rejected that claim. The decision was upheld last month on appeal.
As we’ve previously reported, Gross had been working on a program to improve Internet access for Jewish Cubans. During several trips to Cuba he had covertly distributed laptops. He was arrested in 2009, found guilty by a Cuban court of crimes against the state in 2011 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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