BY DAVID KIDWELL

 A husband-wife Cuban spy team apologized for their betrayal of the United States
 just before they were sentenced Wednesday to 48 and 42 months in prison,
 respectively.

 Those terms are likely to be cut short for their help against another accused spy,
 who prosecutors say conspired with the Cuban military to murder two Brothers to
 the Rescue crews four years ago.

 A tearful Amarylis Silverio Santos, 37 -- who lived at 355 NW 72nd Ave. until she,
 her husband and eight others were arrested in the spy conspiracy in September
 1998 -- begged forgiveness before U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard.

 ``I ask forgiveness from this country for all the opportunities it gave me and for
 what I've done,'' she said. ``I also ask for forgiveness from my whole family and my
 small daughter, who deserves nothing of what has happened on my account.''

 Said Lenard: ``I can't agree with you more, Ms. Santos, that you came here to
 this country, which offers such great opportunities, and you violated the trust you
 were given.''

 Lenard imposed the government-recommended sentence of 42 months in federal
 prison.

 FOUR-YEAR SENTENCE

 Joseph Santos, 38, was sentenced to four years in prison after he expressed his
 own remorse.

 ``Part of what has happened to us came because of our ignorance about life in
 general, which led us to do things we should not have done,'' he told Lenard
 through an interpreter.

 The couple -- which federal prosecutor Caroline Heck Miller said was among the
 least culpable of all the defendants -- pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to
 act as a foreign agent. The charge carries a maximum five-year prison term.

 Three other alleged spies have pleaded guilty on similar charges. As part of the
 plea agreements, each of the five agreed to cooperate against their former
 comrades.

 SOUTHERN COMMAND

 Joseph and Amarylis Santos, whose 6-year-old daughter is living with Miami
 relatives, were assigned through Miami contacts to infiltrate and get jobs at the
 U.S. Southern Command headquarters in western Miami-Dade County.

 Although State Department officials have said their efforts were largely
 unsuccessful, the couple filed at least one ``detailed'' report on the complex that
 controls U.S. military activity in Latin America.

 The primary function of the alleged spy ring, according to court records, was to
 infiltrate and disrupt Cuban exile organizations. But from the beginning of the
 investigation, federal authorities suspected a more ominous conspiracy.

 In May, the jailed leader of the alleged spy ring -- Gerardo Hernandez, a captain
 with Cuban military intelligence known in Miami as Manuel Viramontes -- was
 charged with providing intelligence on Brothers to the Rescue flights to Cuban
 authorities.

 ACCUSED OF MURDER

 On Feb. 24, 1996, Cuban warplanes shot down two of the exile group's planes
 over international waters, killing four men on board. Hernandez, who authorities
 say posed as a graphics artist in North Miami under the assumed name of a
 long-dead Texas child, is the only alleged spy accused in the murder conspiracy.

 The May indictment charges that Cuba's intelligence agency actively worked to
 provoke a violent incident with Brothers through its spies in Miami.

 The trials of Hernandez and four other alleged spies is set for May 22, but defense
 attorneys have asked for a delay until September. Prosecutors have agreed to file
 motions to reduce the sentences of the five cooperators, depending on the
 substance and value of their help.

 As part of her plea agreement, Amarylis Santos, a resident alien, will be allowed
 to remain in the United States and seek witness protection. Joseph Santos is a
 U.S. citizen.

 ``You stand here as a U.S. citizen,'' Lenard told him before she passed sentence.
 ``Every U.S. citizen has the responsibility of protecting our constitutional form of
 government. You, sir, chose to forsake that duty.''
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald