Associated Press

BRADENTON — A second Cuban exile who took part in a car-bombing that killed a former Chilean ambassador in Washington in 1976 has been freed from federal custody.

Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquivel, 62, walked out of the Immigration and Naturalization Service jail in Bradenton Tuesday after serving eight years of a 12-year prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for the bombing.

Attorney Dario Diaz, left, opens the door for Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquivel, 62, as Suarez is released from the Immigration and Naturalization Service jail in Bradenton, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2001. Suarez was originally jailed in connection with the 1976 bombing deaths of former Chilean embassador Orlando Letelier and his assistant Ronni Mottiff in Washington. Suarez was paroled in 1997 but held in a federal prison while awaiting deportation. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that indefinite detentions were unconstitutional. Grant Jeffries/Bradenton Herald
 
"This is a fantastic day because I'm going to embrace my family and my children," said the 62-year-old Suarez.

Killed in the Sept. 21, 1976 blast were Orlando Letelier and his American aide, Ronni Moffitt. Moffitt's husband, who was in the back seat, was injured.

Letelier served as Chile's ambassador to Washington and foreign minister and defense minister in the 1970s under socialist President Salvador Allende, whose friendly relations with Cuban President Fidel Castro earned him the enmity of Cuban exiles.

Letelier had remained in Washington after Pinochet's 1973 coup overthrew Allende.

The assassination was the work of the Chilean secret police, DINA, and carried out by Cuban exiles, prosecutors said. DINA wanted Letelier eliminated as a leading critic of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's military regime.

Prosecutors charged that Suarez, Virgilio Paz Romero and another man went to Letelier's home in suburban Bethesda, Md., to plant the bomb, which was detonated in Washington.

Suarez was paroled in 1997 but held in the INS lockup while awaiting deportation. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that indefinite detentions were unconstitutional.

Paz Romero was released from the Bradenton detention center last month after being held since May 1998 under similar circumstances.