BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES

 Five men convicted of spying for Cuba will have to wait until December to find out how much longer they will remain behind bars.

 U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard on Monday delayed the spies' sentencings -- originally set for early fall -- until mid-December after a request from the federal probation office.

 Probation officer Debra Speas told the judge that ``due to the complexity of the case,'' her office needed more time to complete pre-sentence investigations on the five.

 The investigations, routinely conducted on all convicted people, are the basis for confidential reports provided to the judge and both parties before sentencing.

 Speas spoke at the first court hearing in the case since a jury convicted the men on all counts in June.

 Three of the spies -- Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero -- face maximum sentences of life in prison after being convicted of espionage
 conspiracy. The other two -- Fernando González and René González -- face 10-year maximum terms on lesser convictions of being unregistered foreign agents.

 The men have been in federal custody since their arrests in September 1998, when the FBI busted a large spying ring called the Wasp Network. Evidence showed the group tried to penetrate the Southern Command military headquarters and targeted Cuban exile groups for dissension. The time the spies have already served will be shaved off their sentences.

 Pre-sentence investigations outline the offenses committed and provide a mini-autobiography on each defendant from birth on, including education, finances, health,
 employment, criminal history, family ties and anything else a judge might take into consideration.

 ``This is going to be a complicated sentencing,'' defense attorney Paul McKenna warned the judge, adding that he wanted to be sure he had enough time to review the probation report before sentencing.

 McKenna said the probation office told him its recitation of the spies' criminal conduct alone runs 30 pages. Lawyers sometimes ask for revisions to the reports if they believe they contain inaccuracies.

 Defense attorney William Norris told the judge he filed a motion seeking a downward departure from the sentencing guidelines. Lenard tentatively set a hearing on that motion for Dec. 10.

 The judge set the sentencings, all at 2:30 p.m., as follows: Hernández, Dec. 11; Labañino, Dec. 12; René González, Dec. 13; Guerrero, Dec. 14; Fernando González, Dec. 17.
 

                                    © 2001