MIAMI -- (AP) -- A federal prosecutor Wednesday tried to undermine the defense
 of a senior INS official charged with espionage, accusing him of lying to FBI
 investigators and saying he knew the information he admits passing on might fall
 into the wrong hands.

 Mariano Faget, 54, stood his ground under intense cross-examination chief
 assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie, who pummeled him with questions
 about why he chose to tell a mysterious New York businessman about the
 alleged defection of a Cuban official.

 Faget said that he feared for the safety of his friend, Pedro Font, who was
 meeting with members of the Cuban Interests Section. Faget was given secret
 information in a videotaped FBI sting on Feb. 11, which he passed on to Font
 within 12 minutes.

 Faget says he tipped off his friend because he feared that Cuban officials would
 harm him if they thought he was involved in the defection.

 ``In my mind, I didn't feel that (it) would hurt the United States in any way,'' Faget
 said. ``The Cubans were not going to get the information, because I told Mr. Font
 and didn't think he would tell them. I told him so he could watch his back.''

 When Gregorie asked him why he hadn't called the FBI to protect Font instead,
 Faget could offer no explanation. He also agreed that he had no way of knowing
 how Font would use the information.

 Gregorie also asked Faget why he hadn't told FBI agents everything he knew
 about Font's activities in Cuba, including his contacts with then-foreign minister
 Roberto Robaina. Faget said it was because ``they didn't ask.''

 Font, a Cuban citizen who works in New York and has homes in Greenwich,
 Conn., and Denver, has not been publicly indicted. His whereabouts are unknown.

 Faget is charged with violating the U.S. Espionage Act, failing to accurately report
 meetings with Cuban diplomat Luis Molina, who has since been identified by the
 FBI as an intelligence agent.

 He is also charged with lying on a 1998 application to renew his secret security
 clearance, by saying that he did not have any foreign business connections.

 Faget told defense attorney Edward O'Donnell on Tuesday that he does not
 believe Font is a spy, and he told FBI agents the truth about his own meetings
 with Cuban officials.

 FBI surveillance tapes showed Faget meeting with Cuban officials, and phone
 taps revealed his conversations with Font.

 Faget has testified that he either saw or spoke with Molina four times, and met
 once with another Cuban official, Jose Imperatori. He said the only topic ever
 discussed with either official was the potential for doing business in Cuba after the
 U.S. trade embargo is lifted.

 Faget, who was close to retirement after 33 years with the U.S. Immigration and
 Naturalization Service, was partners with Font in America Cuba Inc., formed in
 1993 to conduct business in post-embargo Cuba.

 Faget and another partner in the company, Jose Goyanes, have testified that
 America Cuba Inc. never actually transacted any business.

 A native of Cuba and naturalized U.S. citizen, Faget testified that Font worked
 with his father for Fulgencio Batista's Office of Anti-Communist Repression. Faget
 said he would not have maintained contact with Font if he thought he was an
 agent of Fidel Castro, and had no reason to believe the FBI's suspicions.

 Faget has been held without bond since his arrest. He faces up to 10 years in
 prison if convicted.