MIAMI — A Cuban Air Force veteran — who was charged in Miami last week along with former President Raul Castro in the 1996 shoot-down of two exile planes — was sentenced to seven months in prison on Thursday for lying on his visa and permanent-residency applications in the United States by omitting his military history.

Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez, 65, who was arrested in late 2025, will be credited for time served in a Jacksonville lock-up after pleading guilty to committing fraud on the applications to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. A judge had ordered his detention because he was deemed a risk of flight to Cuba.

According to an indictment, Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez submitted false applications in May 2017 for a U.S. visa and again in April 2025 for permanent residency with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In both instances, he omitted his prior membership in the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force from 1980 to 2009, the indictment says.

Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez is accused of falsely stating he had never served in the Cuban military, when in reality, he had been a member of the country’s Air Defense Force for nearly three decades. A photo included in the indictment shows Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez serving in the Cuban military.

Last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami unsealed an indictment accusing Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez, Castro and three others of conspiring to kill four Cuban-American men in connection with the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian exile planes over international waters near Cuba.

The indictment alleges that the Cuban Air Force shot down the two civilian planes, operated by the Miami-based organization Brothers to the Rescue, killing three U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident.

Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez is not accused of directly shooting down the planes, but the indictment alleges he participated in the military response that day and pursued a third aircraft flown by Brothers to the Rescue members.

During Thursday’s sentencing in Jacksonville, the federal judge noted that Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez would likely be immediately arrested for the new charges. The judge commented that Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez “has bigger fish to fry” moving forward.

Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez is scheduled for his first appearance on the new charges in Jacksonville at a date yet to be determined. After this appearance, he will be transferred to Miami to stand trial.

_____

©2026 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ©2026 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.