Nov 01 2006 10:44 AM
And I don't mean cigars.
Sports agent charged with smuggling Cuban ballplayers
A California sports agent was arrested and charged in a conspiracy to smuggle Cuban baseball players -- a case that industry insiders say reveals the dark side of a thriving business.
BY CASEY WOODS, KEVIN BAXTER AND FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.comA California-based sports agent was arrested Tuesday, charged in federal court in Miami with financing and organizing a scheme to smuggle Cuban baseball players from the communist island to the United States.
Audio | Interview with Susan Dmitrovsky, Gustavo Dominguez's lawyer
Audio | Interview with Joe Kehoskie, sports agent
Document | Read the news release
Document | Read the indictment
Baseball agent Gustavo ''Gus'' Dominguez of Total Sports International is accused of hiring four men to help him get 19 Cubans off the island on Aug. 22, 2004, including several who are now U.S. minor-league baseball players. The voyage also included three children only identified by their initials.
Dominguez's Beverly Hills company represents some 50 players, including pitcher Jason Simontacchi, former Marlin Greg Colbrunn and Cuban defectors Eddy Oropesa and Andy Morales. Dominguez has said he represents 38 Cuban defectors.
Industry insiders say the case reveals the dark underbelly of the business of representing Cuban defectors. Where player representatives once assisted Cubans in the act of defecting once they were outside Cuba -- as agent Joe Cubas did when he spirited former Marlin Liván Hernández away from the national team during a trip to Mexico in 1995 -- agents have in recent years begun working closely with or even recruiting smugglers to get the players off the island.
At least 100 Cuban players have defected since 1991. Although the smuggling operations have been an open secret for years in the baseball community, it is the first time an agent has been charged with a crime.
The indictment accuses Dominguez of depositing $50,000 into an account at the California-based Commercial Capital Bank to finance the operation.
The indictment says he rented an apartment in Woodland Hills, Calif., in late July 2004. Four days later, co-defendant Geoffrey Rodrigues loaded 22 Cubans onto a 28-foot boat in Cuba. The boat was intercepted by Customs and Border Protection.
A month later, co-defendant Roberto Yosvany Hernandez went back to Cuba to pick up another 19 Cuban nationals -- many of them from the first aborted trip.
''Mr. Dominguez has never been in trouble before. He is a successful businessman in California,'' said Susan Dmitrovsky, attorney for Dominguez. ``I believe he will prevail in this case.''
According to the indictment, co-defendants Rodrigues and Hernandez operated go-fast boats used in the two smuggling ventures. Aides Ramón Batista and Guillermo Valdez allegedly transported the players from Florida to California in a rented van. Batista provided meals and clothes, using money Dominguez provided, the indictment said.
Among the players was Francisely Bueno-Trueba, a pitcher with the Atlanta Braves' minor-league affiliate in Mississippi; Osbek Castillo-Pérez, a pitcher with the Arizona Diamondbacks' minor-league team in Missoula, Mont.; Allen Guevara-Pérez, a pitcher from Havana; Osmany Masso-Arredondo, who was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in June but did not sign; and Yoankis Turino-Montalno, a pitcher for the Lincoln, Neb., Saltdogs of the independent American Association.
''Though this case involves a Beverly Hills sports agent and talented baseball players, it is remarkably similar to the human smuggling operations that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] encounters every day,'' ICE Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers said in a statement. ``The ringleaders put the lives of illegal immigrants at risk and sought to profit from their labor. It is unfortunate that those who claim to support Major League Baseball taint America's pastime with these illegal human smuggling operations.''
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the agent immediately began training and conditioning the baseball players, failing to present them to Customs and Border Protection for immigration processing.
Cuban-American baseball agent Juan Iglesias said he is often approached by the families of Cuban players, asking for a hand in getting their relatives off the island.
'My answer is always the same: `When he gets to the U.S., have him call me,' '' Iglesias said. ``That's heavy-duty stuff. More things can go wrong than can go right.''
Agent Joe Kehoskie said he's surprised it took so long for someone to be arrested.
''I don't want to gloat about someone else being arrested,'' Kehoskie said, ``but it seems like in recent years the [business of representing] Cuban defectors has turned into a smuggling business.''
Dominguez was released from jail Tuesday after posting a $25,000 corporate surety bond. Batista posted a $15,000 bond.
The indictment charges all five defendants with a conspiracy to bring immigrants illegally into the United States, illegally transporting them in violation of law, and concealing and harboring them from detection.
Dominguez, Rodrigues and Hernandez are separately charged with smuggling the Cubans, and Rodrigues is charged with assaulting Customs and Border Protection marine interdiction agents. Dominguez, Batista, and Valdez are accused of transporting, concealing and harboring from detection undocumented immigrants.
The smuggling conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The assault of a federal officer carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The charges of smuggling, transporting, harboring and concealing undocumented immigrants each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Herald writer Andrea Torres contributed to this report.
