A former U.S. State Department worker accused of spying for Cuba was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

"Walter Kendall Myers, a former State Department official, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and 81 months in prison, respectively," the Justice Department said in a statement.

The Justice Department said the two got their sentence for their roles in a nearly 30-year conspiracy to provide highly-classified U.S. defense information to Cuba.

State Department worker gets life sentence