A court in Santa Clara, Cuba, has sentenced two West Palm Beach residents, Noel Ramos Rojas and Pedro Pablo Pulido, to 15 years in prison for ``rebellion'' and ``other crimes against the security of the state.''

Pulido and Ramos are members of the anti-Castro group Proyecto Cuba (Project Cuba), based in Miami.

The court on Saturday also sentenced two members of the Cuban opposition group Elpidio Valdes Commandos to seven and eight years' imprisonment on charges of rebellion. And it limited the freedom of two other members of the group for alleged complicity in the insurgency.

Luis Ramon Hernandez, leader of the dissident group Democratic Action, who attended the trial, said Pulido admitted carrying weapons and ammunition in his boat when he landed in north-central Cuba in October 1996. Pulido said no one came to pick up the weapons, so he surrendered, Hernandez said.

Ramos, who entered Cuba as a tourist, was also arrested in October 1996.

Prosecutors said during the trial that the gun-running operation was directed by Miami lawyer Julio Codia and by Ernesto Claro, of the Miami-based Democratic National Unity Party (PUND).

Codia, Claro and representatives of Proyecto Cuba did not return calls from The Herald.