April 25--Newly unsealed court records describe the shadowy yet lucrative world of illegal smuggling that brings Cuban baseball players into the United States, including the millions that White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu appears to have paid his now-indicted former agents.
In three separate payments over the course of nine months in 2014, his rookie year, Abreu allegedly transferred $5.8 million to those agents.
The payments as well details about the smuggling activity are spelled out in a superseding indictment in the case against Bart Hernandez, who once represented Abreu and was indicted in February on charges related to human trafficking. The indictment describe smuggling activities, including payments to boat captains and falsified documents, that led to top players escaping Cuba and eventually making it to the U.S. to play professional baseball.
Last week's filing also indicted Julio Estrada, a Cuban exile in Miami who worked with Hernandez for about a decade, and Haiti resident Amin Latouff on charges related to human trafficking for allegedly conspiring with Hernandez.
Prosecutors allege all three profited by illegally smuggling baseball players and members of their families into the United States with the help of false documents. The government is asking for forfeiture of at least $15 million related to the charges of the three men.
Prosecutors describe a trafficking process that typically would begin by paying boat captains to ferry players out of Cuba and into another Latin country. Hernandez and the others would then provide players with false passports while submitting fake paperwork to the federal government and Major League Baseball. Special rules apply to foreign nationals seeking to sign MLB contracts.
At some point, players would transfer money into an account controlled by Estrada through his company, Total Baseball Management. Estrada then directed money into an account controlled by Hernandez, according to the documents.
In the indictment, prosecutors describe activities involving 16 players identified by their initials, including "J.A.C." -- Abreu's initials. (In Spanish naming customs, the paternal family name precedes the maternal name.)
Abreu is believed to have left Cuba sometime in August 2013. Around that time, according to prosecutors, Latouff paid a boat captain $160,000 to smuggle Abreu to Haiti. Later that month, Hernandez submitted an application for the player to the federal government in order for him to sign a contract with a major league team. He also emailed Major League Baseball a visa purportedly issued by Haiti.
On Oct. 13, 2013, Latouff allegedly provided the player a fake passport with a false name to use on a flight to Miami from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to the indictment, Latouff later provided similar documentation to Abreu's then-girlfriend, also identified only by initials.
The White Sox soon announced that Abreu had signed a five-year deal worth $68 million. At the time, Abreu was represented by the Praver Shapiro sports agency, which worked with Hernandez and his company, Global Sports Management.
During his first season with the White Sox in 2014, Abreu was an all-star, and after the season he was named rookie of the year. During 2014, he also was making payments to Estrada, prosecutors allege.
In March 2014, Estrada "caused J.A.C. to wire" about $2.4 million into an account that Estrada controlled, prosecutors wrote in the indictment. In August of that same year, "J.A.C." also transferred $2 million and then sent another $1.36 million in December, prosecutors wrote.
After each of transfer, Estrada allegedly sent funds to an account controlled by Hernandez, with a total of nearly $600,000 going into that account, according to the indictment.
Abreu has declined to discuss his journey out of Cuba.
The Tribune has previously reported that Abreu's transition while in the U.S. has been aided by Julio Estrada, although his precise role with regard to Abreu is unclear. In 2014 Estrada identified himself to the Tribune as Abreu's agent, but the players union said it had no evidence of that.
When the Tribune tried to interview Abreu's family in Miami about their defection, it was Estrada who abruptly called it off, even though Abreu's mother had initially agreed.
If convicted on all counts, Hernandez faces up to 35 years in prison while Estrada faces 45. They also are being asked to give up anything earned with any baseball players.
When Hernandez was first indicted, prosecutors alleged he conspired first in 2008 to smuggle for profit a Cuban national identified in court papers as "L.M.T." Those are the same initials as Leonys Martin Tapanes, a Seattle Mariners outfielder who was once represented by Hernandez but later sued him.
Prosecutors tied the activity to convicted traffickers. One, Eliezer Lazo, is serving two prison terms, including a 14-year sentence on extortion charges related to masterminding a smuggling operation that brought hundreds of Cubans to the United States, including Martin. Lazo's brother-in-law, Martinez Hernandez (no relation to Bart Hernandez), was sentenced last year.
jahopkins@tribpub.com
