Alan Gross with his wife Judy. Photo: Gross family.

JNS.org – Jewish-American prisoner Alan Gross marked his fifth year in a Cuban jail where his health has deteriorated drastically according to his family.

Gross, a subcontractor for the United States Agency for International Development who went to Cuba to help the Jewish community there access the Internet, was imprisoned in late 2009 for what the Cuban government called “crimes against the state.”

Marking the anniversary, his wife, Judy Gross made one last plea for his release.

“Enough is enough,” she said in a statement. “My husband has paid a terrible price for serving his country and community. Alan is resolved that he will not endure another year imprisoned in Cuba, and I am afraid that we are at the end. After five years of literally wasting away, Alan is done. It is time for President Obama to bring Alan back to the United States now; otherwise it will be too late.”

The White House also issued a statement calling on Cuba to release Gross, saying that they were “deeply concerned” about Gross’s health and that his release would “remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba.”

The Cuban government has called for a prisoner swap for Gross in exchange for jailed Cuban spies. But the U.S. State Department has rejected that proposal.