Former President Jimmy Carter met with a jailed American contractor but said March 30 that Cuban authorities had made it clear they do not plan to release him.

The announcement was a disappointment to supporters of Alan Gross after the trip had raised expectations the 86-year-old former American leader would be allowed to bring the Maryland native home. Gross is serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted earlier this month of bringing communications equipment into Cuba illegally.

State Department officials have said privately that Cuban authorities indicated they might release Gross on humanitarian grounds following the trial. But Carter said that even before he arrived, Cuban authorities told him that “the freedom of Alan Gross would not be granted.”

He said he met with Gross at an undisclosed location the morning of March 30, and that the 61-year-old contractor told him he had lost 88 pounds since his arrest in December 2009.

Carter said Gross’s lawyer plans to appeal his conviction, and if that fails, he hopes Gross will be granted an “executive pardon” on humanitarian grounds. Gross’ 26-year-old daughter and elderly mother are both suffering from cancer.

The former U.S. president said he believes Gross is “innocent of any serious crime.”

In addition to meeting Gross, Carter also sat down March 30 with Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, a day after holding talks with President Raul Castro. — ap