Gustavo Dominguez may be locked up for life after smuggling baseball players into the United States from Cuba.
I am sorry that all of my posts today are centered around Sports Agents violating the law, but as a self-proclaimed amazing site that offers all sports agent related news, it is my duty to inform you about the bad stuff as well.
On November 2, 2006, I posted on Gustavo “Gus” Dominguez being charged for paying aides to illegally bring Cuban baseball players to California [Would You Like a Cuban Cigar With That Pitcher?]. His smuggling days are over, however. The Miami Herald reports that Gus was convicted for illegally helping 5 players cross the border and was found guilty on a total of 21 federal counts [Sports agent guilty in Cuban ballplayer case]. His punishment could be extremely harsh [Convicted sports agent faces decades in prison]. Is it fair?
-Darren Heitner
3 replies on “Smuggled Goods”
Is it fair? That’s a philosophical question and the Clarence Darrow in me says “no.”
That said, whenever you have “Cuba” and “purported drug trafficker” within the same charge, you’re just begging a federal court to throw the book at you.
He knew what he was doing and what the risks were. As the saying goes, caveat emptor.
This is quite delayed; however I have just stumbled across this blog and would like to comment. Gustavo "Gus" Dominguez (as he has been called in the media) is my father, and my family and I have had to deal with the ignorant comments others have made about this case. There were a number of issues brought up during the trial that have conveniently not been reported but have been discussed in detail by Michael Lewis in an article written for Vanity Fair. He notes the injustices throughout the trial and ends the article with the conclusion that he believes my father did not commit the crime he was alleged to have committed. My father was a scapegoat so that the government could "prove" that they were doing something about the immigration situation in this country. Although I respect everyone's right to free speech (which is, ironically, one of the reasons my father and his parents left Cuba), I would like to ask that before somebody posts their "opinion" about others, they at least have some knowledge of the situation, and not just purport to.
Desiree:
Reporting a conviction is not making an \”ignorant comment,\” in my opinion. I left my opinion out of the article and asked for others to leave their thoughts.