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Leonys Martin’s agent charged with human trafficking

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Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Leonys Martin comes to the Texas Rangers in 2010 from Cuba.

Baseball agent Bart Hernandez faces two federal felony counts related to an operation to smuggle a player, believed to be Cuban outfielder Leonys Martin, into the United States.

A six-page indictment handed down by a Miami grand jury Feb. 11 and unsealed Friday, charges Hernandez with conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to enter the U.S. and bringing an alien into the U.S. for the purpose of private financial gain.

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“The arrest was made (Friday) morning by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, as part of an ongoing joint investigation. He was arrested this morning at his residence,” a Department of Homeland Security Investigations public affairs officer confirmed to the Daily News Friday.

A bond hearing for Hernandez will be held Monday.

The indictment accuses Hernandez of conspiring with two men, Eliezer Lazo and Joel Martinez Hernandez, as well as other persons to “encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, and residence is and will be in violation of law.” In 2014, Lazo was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for his involvement with a smuggling enterprise.

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“This is a massive investigation and a very strong prosecution, all predicated on an individual who conspired, and committed a federal crime,” said Michael Wildes, a former federal prosecutor and a managing partner of the Manhattan firm Wildes & Weinberg. “If (Hernandez) is an American citizen, he’ll be punished for the crime and not deported. If he has a green card or anything less, there is no doubt that removal proceedings will ensue after the full prosecution and time is served.”

David Weinstein, also a former prosecutor and a partner at the Miami firm Clarke Silverglate, reviewed the indictment and said that the government will seek to forfeit the money Hernandez made from three players he had under contract. “In addition, they are specifically looking to recover $1.5 million dollars that they allege specifically came from his conduct connected to Leonys Martin,” Weinstein said. “I suspect the government will be seeking pre-trial detention and no bond based upon a risk of flight due to his amassed wealth.”

Wildes added that after the government prosecutes Hernandez for federal crimes, “prosecutors could go after the car and all of the electronic medium — telephones and equipment used to bring this individual into the U.S. — in furtherance of this crime.”

As for the players who Hernandez represents, Wildes said that if they were complicit in any way in the smuggling operations, they could be in legal hot water too.

“Were they true victims or were they complicit conspirators in coming into America also?” said Wildes. “If they perpetrated the fraud or were conspiratorial in some fashion, they are also going to be prosecuted. There is a strict scrutiny on these cases on a policy basis to prevent other people from following suit. This is a crime involving moral turpitude, and would most definitely be considered to be an aggravated felony. It’s a crime that is encouraging others to break federal immigration laws and in these days, the government treats all actors with the same level of prosecution.”

Hernandez’s attorneys released a statement Friday saying their client “has always done right by his clients.”

“As we will show at trial, Bart Hernandez is a talented and ethical sports agent who has always done right by his clients. Today, on the eve of a long-scheduled Major League Baseball arbitration, the government unfairly seeks to criminalize a player/agent fee dispute. Bart is innocent and the charges are baseless,” the attorneys, Jeffrey Marcus and Daniel Rashbaum, said.

Tags:
leonys martin ,
seattle mariners ,
mlb ,
human trafficking

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