• Submitted by: admin
• international
• United States
• Personalities
• 05 / 03 / 2010

---

MIAMI -- A Miami woman's attempt to force air charter companies to pay a $27 million legal judgment owed to her by the Cuban government has been bounced from federal to state court.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno agreed Wednesday with Ana Margarita Martinez that the matter should be handled at the state level. The charter companies wanted Moreno to intervene.

Martinez was awarded damages in 2001 after claiming in a lawsuit that she was tricked into marrying a Cuban man who later turned out to be a spy. To satisfy the judgment, her lawyers want to collect fees that eight U.S. air charter companies pay to Cuba for rights to land there.

Cuba has ignored the lawsuit. The charter companies claim paying the fees would put them out of business.

Source: AP