Alan Gross’s wife fears he’ll ‘do something drastic’ in prison

Alan Gross has reached his breaking point while serving a 15-year sentence in a Cuban prison, his wife told NPR.

SEE ALSO: For Alan Gross, it’s hard time in Havana

“He is not doing well” Judy Gross said after recently visiting her husband in prison. “He is not going to stay 10 more years in prison and he said he will take drastic measures.”

Alan Gross, 65, is serving a 15-year sentence for bringing satellite communications equipment to Cuba as part of his work as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was convicted in March 2011.

Judy Gross urged Washington and the Obama administration to do whatever is necessary to secure his release.

“I don’t have anything on mind, ” Judy said, “President Obama needs to come up with some plan and I’m confident… I’m almost confident that he will do something to get Alan home.”

His mother recently died of lung cancer and the Cuban government refused a request for a humanitarian furlough for Alan to see his mother.

“We would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to his relatives,” Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Josefina Vidal said in a statement. “It is necessary to clarify that neither the Cuban penitentiary system nor the U.S. penitentiary system provide the possibility for inmates to travel abroad, no matter the reason. “

In April, Gross embarked on a hunger strike to protest his continued imprisonment. He later said he was suspending his hunger strike after his mother pleaded with him to begin eating again.

“Not being able to see his mother before she died really made his mental health state much worse, and I think that’s why I’m seeing him the way he is physically. He’s in chronic pain,” Gross’ wife told MSNBC. “Yesterday he got out of the chair and almost fell on the floor because his arthritis is so bad. His legs are barely supporting him.”

SEE ALSO: Alan Gross goes on hunger strike while Cuban Twitter scandal grows