Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu told a Miami federal jury Wednesday that he ate a chunk of a fake passport while flying to the U.S. to cover up his illegal travel as part of a Cuban ballplayer smuggling operation.
Abreu testified he ordered a beer on an Air France flight from Haiti to Miami and slowly consumed the page containing a false name and his photo. Abreu said he traveled illegally because he was worried he would miss an October 2013 deadline and lose the $68 million contract he later signed with Chicago.
"If I had not been there on that particular day, the deadline, then the contract would not be executed and would no longer be valid," Abreu told jurors. "We had to be in Chicago to sign the contract."
The testimony came in the trial of Florida-based sports agent Bartolo Hernandez and baseball trainer Julio Estrada, who are accused of alien smuggling and conspiracy. They allegedly operated a ring that took Cuban players from the communist-governed island to third countries where they could sign lucrative Major League Baseball contracts once they established residency.
Several other Cuban players have also testified, including Adeiny Hechavarria of the Miami Marlins and Leonys Martin of the Seattle Mariners.
Abreu told jurors that he got the fake passport in Haiti, where he had been taken along with his family from Cuba by speedboat in August 2013. His main contact and fixer there was Amin Latouff, he said, a man who was indicted along with Hernandez and Estrada but who has not been arrested.
It was Latouff, Abreu testified, who got him the passport and booked the Air France flight, telling the ballplayer to destroy the document on the plane. But instead of tearing it up and tossing it in the garbage, Abreu said he ordered a Heineken beer and chewed it up in his seat.
"Little by little I swallowed that first page of the passport. I could not arrive in the United States with a false passport," he said.
Dancing grandpa
It was announced Wednesday that retired backup catcher David Ross, most recently of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, would be the first MLB player to compete on ABC's competitive reality show Dancing with the Stars.
To support his former teammate, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo made a video.
"Good luck, and try not to suck," was part of Rizzo's message.
The rest of the lineup for the 24th season of the show was also announced, and it looks like Grandpa Rossy will have some formidable competition. Gymnast and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles will be competing, as well as figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and former NFL running back Rashad Jennings. Dancer and actress Charo also is on the show this season, as is Mr. T, for some reason.
Ross may be the first baseball player on the show, but he's far from the first athlete. In fact, there have been enough athletes on the show throughout the previous 23 seasons that there have been nine athlete winners. The most recent athlete to take the crown was Laurie Hernandez, the Olympic gymnast who in 2016 won gold in the team event (alongside Biles) and silver on the balance beam.
The new season of Dancing with the Stars premieres March 20.
Sports on 03/02/2017