INS Official Mariano Faget Denies Spying For Cuba 
MICHAEL HOLMES, WORLD NEWS: A United States immigration official accused of spying pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Miami, Florida. The case of Mariano Faget is provoking new diplomatic tensions between Cuba and the U.S. CNN's Miami bureau chief John Zarrella reports.</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): During a jailhouse interview, Mariano Faget, a 34-year veteran of the INS, vehemently denied he was a spy for the Castro government.</s>MARIANO FAGET, ACCUSED SPY: Absolutely not, sir. I am not a spy. I would not do that to the country that I love, which is the United States.</s>ZARRELLA: At his arraignment on espionage charges, Faget's attorneys stuck to that position.</s>DIANE WARD, FAGET'S ATTORNEY: We entered a plea of not guilty, and in this particular case I know it's a very adamant plea of not guilty.</s>ZARRELLA: Faget does not deny he passed classified government information, but he insists it was simply to help a friend and business associate, Pedro Font. (on camera): Federal agents deliberately gave Faget phony information about an alleged defection of a high-ranking Cuban. Twelve minutes after he got the information, Faget passed it along to his friend, Font. Faget insists he passed the information because he thought Font's life might be in danger. (voice-over): Font was scheduled to meet that same afternoon in New York with Cuban government officials.</s>FAGET: I was afraid that my friend for 30 years was going to be put in harm's way some way by being set up or somehow brought into this defection.</s>ZARRELLA: Faget didn't know it, but the call was being recorded by the FBI. Based on the government's indictment and supporting evidence, the case against Faget is built around that call and one other he made, but nowhere is there evidence Faget received money for information or was ever sympathetic to the Castro government. Federal agents first took notice of Faget 15 months ago. U.S. officials were monitoring Cuban diplomat Jose Imperatori when Faget showed up for a drink with Imperatori at a Miami hotel. A little more than a week ago, Imperatori was kicked out of the United States for alleged spying. John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.