Governor Richardson, during a follow-up trade mission to Havana, took the opportunity to press Cuban officials to free Alan Gross, an American telecommunications expert who was arrested under dubious charges. Just four months after Richardson’s 2009 trade mission to Havana, Gross was arrested at Havana’s airport as he was about to fly out of the country. He was accused of illegally distributing satellite phones to dissidents. He faces 20 years in prison for taking “actions against the independence and territorial integrity of the state.” Richardson continues to pursue the release of Gross on humanitarian grounds.