Jury to get case of Cubans brought in illegally
among the nearly three dozen smuggled players include Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, who signed a $68 million deal; the Seattle Mariners’ Leonys Martin, who got a $15.5 million contract; and Adeiny Hechavarria of the Miami Marlins, who signed for $10 million.
Lawyers for Hernandez and Estrada, neither of whom testified, sought to distance them from any criminal aspects of the smuggling venture.
They said neither man encouraged players to come to the U.S. illegally and that neither was involved directly with the smuggling of players by boat from Cuba, although there were a number of contacts and meetings with some of the shadier characters.
Hernandez simply negotiated deals with the teams as sports agent, his attorneys said.
“What the government has done is, they have tried to convict Bart Hernandez by association,” said defense lawyer Daniel Rashbaum. “He is absolutely, 100 percent innocent.”
Rashbaum and co-counsel Jeffrey Marcus reminded jurors that players who tes- tified, including those who came to the U.S. illegally without visas, insisted that Hernandez urged them to wait until their legal documents were ready. Some did not and were still permitted to stay and sign with teams.
“Every single player said Bart Hernandez told me: ‘Wait. Be patient. You must come into this country legally,’ ” Marcus said.
Estrada attorney Sabrina Puglisi said her client saw a way to benefit financially from the desire of Cuban ballplayers to escape oppression and build better lives in the U.S. She said Estrada had no role in getting the player residency papers but mainly trained them and saw to their needs until they were cleared legally to come to the U.S.
“You heard from these players — they were desperate to leave,” Puglisi told jurors. “They wanted to be free. Julio always encouraged the players to do things the right way.”
Both defense lawyers pointed out that none of the 33 Cuban players associated with Hernandez and Estrada have had their legal U.S. status revoked or lost their permission to play baseball here.