By Ian James
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, September 15, 1998; 8:20 p.m. EDT

MIAMI (AP) -- A man charged with spying for the Cuban government became friendly with Cuban exiles and could have passed along information that led to the deaths of four people aboard two unarmed American civilian planes, an exile leader said Tuesday.

Rene Gonzalez was among 10 people charged Monday in what prosecutors called the largest Cuban spy ring uncovered in the United States since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.

Brothers to the Rescue had two planes shot down over international waters on Feb. 24, 1996. The group's leader, Jose Basulto, said he thinks Gonzalez could have given Cuba information that led to the shootdown.

Basulto did not elaborate on what kind of information Gonzalez could have revealed to Cuba before its MiG fighter downed the planes, but said Gonzalez had been a pilot for Brothers and frequented its hangar.

``I considered him my friend. Rene was a person that everybody liked,'' said Basulto, whose group runs mercy flights over the 90 miles of water between Florida and Cuba, searching for rafters fleeing the communist island nation.

Before the shootdown, the exile groups' humanitarian flights were often common knowledge in the Cuban community.

A criminal complaint filed by the FBI alleges that Gonzalez and nine others tried to penetrate U.S. military bases, infiltrate exile groups and manipulate U.S. media and political groups. The Pentagon said the alleged spies did not achieve their goals.

The complaint also said Gonzalez posed as an FBI informant, ostensibly passing along information about alleged drug smugglers.

All were held without bond on charges of espionage and acting as unregistered agents of the Cuban government. If convicted, they could be sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life.

A bond hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning.