Alan Gross and his wife Judy in Jerusalem. Photo: Gross family.

JNS.org – The mother of Alan Gross, who has been imprisoned in Cuba since December 2009 after he was sentenced to a 15-year term for bringing communications devices to the country’s Jewish community, died Wednesday.

Gross was working for a U.S. firm called Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) to promote democracy, but Cuba convicted him of “crimes against the state.”

Evelyn Gross, 92, died in Plano, Texas, from lung cancer. The Gross family said in a statement that she was diagnosed four years ago and that her “last wish was to see her son before she died.”

“Cuban officials refused to give Alan a humanitarian furlough to visit his mother, despite repeated pleas and the certainty that she was dying,” the family said.

“I am extremely worried that now Alan will give up all hope of ever coming home and do something drastic. Surely, there must be something President Obama can do to secure Alan’s immediate release,” said Gross’ wife, Judy.