Baseball agent arrested, charged with smuggling Cuban players into US
Baseball player agent Bart Hernandez was arrested on Friday after a federal grand jury in Miami indicted him on human-trafficking charges, according to published reports.
Hernandez is one of the targets of a federal investigation digging into the underground methods being used to smuggle Cuban baseball players into the United States.
Hernandez faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He previously rejected a plea deal.
According to Yahoo Sports, Seattle Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin was one of the players Hernandez conspired to smuggle out of Cuba.
The indictment states that Hernandez conspired with Cuban smugglers Eliezer Lazo and Joel Martinez Hernandez (no relation) to smuggle Martin into the Unites States. Martin is identified in the indictment by the initials "L.M.T." That stands for his given name of Leonys Martin Tapanes, sources told ESPN.
Martin has filed a lawsuit and reportedly recounted to investigators that Lazo and MartinezHernandez held him and his family hostage while Bart Hernandez and employers Scott Shapiro and Barry Praver negotiated a five-year, $15.5 million contract with the Texas Rangers.
Martin paid $1.2 million to Estrellas del Baseball, a front for the smuggling operation, according to the lawsuit.
Martin isn't the only Cuban major leaguer who has been affiliated with the Miami-based agency. The list includes Chicago White Sox star Jose Abreu, Adeiny Hechavarria of the Miami Marlins and Jorge Soler of the Chicago Cubs.
The pipeline of baseball players to the United States has emerged as a money-making industry. The smugglers help the players get out of Cuba and once a defector signs a big-money contract with a major league team, the smugglers take millions of dollars to play for their services.
Last year, Cuban native Gilberto Suarez, who is a U.S. citizen, pled guilty for helping smuggle Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig into the U.S. He received a 30-day jail sentence and five months of house arrest.
Suarez helped negotiate Puig's deal with the Dodgers and received $2.5 million for his services.
Authorities are also investigating whether major league teams have direct ties with the smugglers.
