USA v. Hernandez

  1. March 08, 2017

    Agent's Partner Saw No Signs Of Smuggled Cuban Players

    A baseball agent told federal jurors Wednesday that he and fellow agent Bartolo Hernandez, who is accused of helping smuggle Cuban ballplayers into the United States, never discussed bringing their shared clients into the country illegally but also said he knew little about key parts of the players' journeys.

  2. March 07, 2017

    MLB Execs Testify As Ballplayer Smuggling Trial Continues

    An agent and a trainer accused of helping smuggle Cuban ballplayers to the United States commenced their defense Tuesday by calling Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels and other baseball executives to testify at their federal trial in Miami after the judge rejected their motions for acquittal.

  3. March 02, 2017

    Witness Ties Trainer, Agent To Smuggling Players Out Of Cuba

    An admitted smuggler testified Thursday in Florida federal court of direct links between an athletic trainer and a sports agent based in South Florida and smuggling operations that got numerous Cuban baseball players, including Chicago White Sox star Jose Abreu, out of the island nation before they eventually reached the United States.

  4. March 01, 2017

    Cuban Ballplayer Testifies He Ate Passport On Flight To US

    Following a smuggler's instructions to destroy a fake passport during a flight from Haiti to the United States, where a $68 million Major League Baseball contract awaited his signature, Cuban-born baseball player Jose Abreu washed down the identification page with a beer, he told a Florida federal jury Wednesday.

  5. February 23, 2017

    Feds Press For Ballplayer Smuggler's Son Testimony

    Case law supports the son of a convicted migrant smuggler being allowed to testify about a conversation he overheard between his father and a baseball agent on trial for allegedly helping Cuban ballplayers gain fraudulent entry into the United States, federal prosecutors argued in a filing Thursday.

  6. February 22, 2017

    Trainer's Ex Details Cuban Ballplayer Smuggling Ops At Trial

    A government witness told a federal jury Wednesday in Miami that a sports agent and an athletic trainer on trial for conspiring to smuggle Cuban baseball players into the United States carried out the scheme by falsifying documents and arranging illegal border crossings, among other acts.

  7. February 21, 2017

    MLB's Martin Tells Of Threats, Fear At Cuban Smuggling Trial

    Seattle Mariners outfielder Leonys Martin testified Tuesday in Miami that fear drove him to agree to pay smugglers millions of dollars and hire agent Bartolo Hernandez, who is on trial along with an athletic trainer for allegedly conspiring to bring Cuban ballplayers into the United States illegally.

  8. February 17, 2017

    Trainer Rips Leading Questions At Ballplayer Smuggling Trial

    A trainer who, along with a baseball agent, is accused of helping Cuban ballplayers gain fraudulent entry into the United States objected Thursday to the government's alleged use of leading questions during direct examinations of its witnesses during trial.

  9. February 16, 2017

    Witness Accused Of Misconduct At Ballplayer Smuggling Trial

    Signals are exchanged silently throughout baseball games, between catchers and pitchers and coaches and players around the diamond, but the suggestion that a ballplayer was receiving signals while testifying in the player smuggling trial of an agent and trainer raised tensions in a Miami courtroom Thursday.

  10. February 14, 2017

    Agent, Trainer Seek Distance From Ballplayer Smugglers' Acts

    Attorneys for a baseball agent and an athletic trainer accused of helping Cuban ballplayers gain fraudulent entry into the United States attempted to distance their clients from the alleged illegal acts during trial proceedings Tuesday in Miami.