Before sentencing, the judge gave the accused a last chance to speak. Penton remained defiant: "I am Cuban," Penton said. "That man [Altadis lawyer Chuck Grimes] cannot tell me how Cubans feel. He is not Cuban. He is simply making money with the Cubans, out of the sacrifice and the blood and sweat of Cubans. I respect the laws of this country, and I was declared guilty, so there is nothing else that I can do. At the time when I was doing it, I thought I was innocent. I continue to think that I am innocent."
The judge sentenced Penton to five years' probation with five months' house arrest, as well as a $7500 fine. In explaining the seemingly light sentence, Moreno stressed that the work Penton would lose as a result of his home confinement, upon which his wife and disabled stepdaughter rely, was punishment enough.
Jacqueline Carini
Antonia Penton Figueroa says her husband's ongonig fight with Altadis is putting a strain on their family life
Jacqueline Carini
Over six months, Penton's warehouse caught fire, got hit by a hurricane, and was raided by Miami-Dade Police
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On a recent weeknight Penton sat on a deck chair the front patio of his house. He leaned forward and spoke bitterly about his sentence. He still had on his steel-toe shoes from working — Penton is driving a truck for money, but his home confinement means he can only take small, local jobs — and he has carefully pulled up his right sock to cover the ankle monitor. The family dog gave birth a week before, and inside, Antonia and Jenelly tended to a puppy, the only one of the litter to survive. Penton spoke ceaselessly for about an hour about Altadis, Cuba, and Fidel Castro.
"Altadis es Fidel," he said for the umpteenth time. "Did you see on the news, that they are manufacturing biological weapons there?" Penton continued, raising his eyebrows and smiling knowingly, as if tying together the strings of a vast, conspiratorial web. "I'm telling you, this is how Fidel operates." Penton has written letters denouncing Altadis to local Spanish-language press, as well as to politicians, including Dick Cheney. "This company is aiding an enemy of the United States, and nobody's doing anything," he declares. "I can't understand it."
Of the five who were federally indicted last September, Penton's is the only case that has gone to trial. One, Guerra, pled guilty. All charges against another, alleged counterfeiter Filiberto Marmion, who owns the Danli Tobacco Shop in Little Havana, were dropped after his lawyer revealed that he had been out of the country when the undercover purchases were made.
What's more, his employees had only sold unbranded cigars — a common practice.
The other two — Lauro Perez and Hugo Endemano-Portal — have yet to go to trial. A week after Penton's sentencing, U. S. Magistrate Barry L. Garber cited Penton's ongoing appeal in delaying the hearing. So far Penton has promised his lawyer some $80,000; to come up with the money, he sold the house he owned in Orlando. He's taken out thousands of dollars in loans, and he's planning on selling his last piece of property, the one-bedroom condo on Miami Beach.
As day turned into night, Antonia emerged with Cuban coffee and an update on the puppy. "Look at him," she said, coming over with the struggling creature in her palm. She admits that the arrest, the trial and the sentence, and her husband's refusal to give up have put a heavy strain on their small family. "You know, when you have money problems, you have a lot of other problems, too," she says. "He can't really work much now ... before, we didn't have too much money, but at least we could pay everything, and now we can't."
She wishes her husband would give up. "He wants to keep fighting, and I really don't," she says. "I'm always telling him to stop and don't worry about it. Just keep on with life. But you know, they have done harm to him, and he wants justice, that's what he says."
Penton sees himself as a lone fighter against Altadis, and can't understand why no one will take up his cause. "They scare you by saying you're going to have to pay all this money, and that you're going to jail ... all the others signed that they were guilty," he adds with contempt. "But I won't sign anything, because I'm not guilty. And if there is justice in this country, I will be found innocent."
