Bart Hernandez

Bart Hernandez is a player agent with clients including Adeiny Hechevarria and other defectors from Cuba.

On February 19, 2016, Hernandez was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and indicted on charges of human trafficking and conspiracy for his role in smuggling Cuban players off the island. The FBI investigation stemmed from a lawsuit by OF Leonys Martin, who alleged that two associates of Hernandez, Eliezer Lazo and Joel Martinez Hernandez, had held him and his family hostage when he was attempting to sign his first contract after defecting from Cuba, and had managed to extort a sum of $1.2 million from him. The two were serving jail sentences for human trafficking and medicare fraud, and the indictment claimed that Hernandez was working with them to exploit Cuban ballplayers who were seeking to become professionals. The cases of Jose Abreu and Dalier Hinojosa were also cited in the indictment. Hernandez faced a jail term of up to twenty years as a result of the accusations.

Further Reading

• Jeff Passan: "MLB agent Bart Hernandez arrested for human trafficking", Yahoo! Sports, February 19, 2016. [1]
• Jesse Sanchez: "Agent Hernandez indicted for Martin smuggling", mlb.com, February 19, 2016. [2]