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Report: Chapman being sued for $18M
CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 3: Aroldis Chapman #54 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park on May 3, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds came from behind to win 4-3. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Posted: 05/18/2012
CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman is being sued for $18 million, according to several reports.
The NBC Sports blog Hardball Talk posted an article on Friday citing two Miami-based Spanish newspaper stories. According to those stories, the 24-year-old setup man for the Reds is being sued for allegedly working with the Cuban State Security apparatus to help organize the arrest, imprisonment and torture of a Cuban-American named Danilo Curbelo García.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. Court pursuant to the Alien Tort Claims Act:
"Chapman conspired with unidentified agents from the repressive State Security and with the Cuban government to violate the established law of nations, and provoke the arbitrary and prolonged detention and torture of the plaintiff [Curbelo Garcia].” …
The following statement in the report is from Curbelo Garcia's wife, Maylén Turruellas Méndez:
“My husband only praised him as an athlete and told him that in the US he could earn millions,” Turruelas explained. “Days later, the police showed up at his parents’ house and told him that he was under investigation. Later, they arrested him. To this day, I’m convinced that Chapman was working with State Security. It’s known that he had a meeting with Raul Castro. My husband isn’t the only one imprisoned because of Chapman. He was the principal witness in the case, and his statement was full of lies. That’s the only way they’d let him return to the Cuban team.”
The family’s lawyer Avelino Gonzalez said both Chapman and his father testified in Cuba against Curbelo Garcia, leading to his arrest for “attempted human trafficking.”
The lawsuit claims Chapman informed on Garcia in order to get back on the Cuban national team after his (Chapman's) original defection attempt to the United States failed.
Chapman signed with the Reds in January 2010 after successfully defecting from Cuba in July 2009.
The report from Hardball Talk comes from a pair of Miami-based Spanish language papers ( here and here ).
The Reds have not commented on the matter.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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