Gilberto Suarez, the man who helped Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig escape Cuba in 2012, will serve time in prison and be under house arrest for his role in violating U.S. immigration laws.
According to The Associated Press (via ESPN.com), Suarez was "sentenced Friday to a month in prison and five months' house arrest" as a result:
U.S. District Judge Robert Scola on Friday gave Gilberto Suarez, 41, less than the one-year maximum partly because his main role in the 2012 smuggling venture was having Puig driven in a taxi from Mexico City to the Texas border. Other conspirators, including boat captains and members of Mexico's violent Zetas drug gang, were involved in other stages of the trip.
Per the report, Judge Scola did show some mercy to Suarez in the sentencing "because Puig and others in the smuggling trip were threatened by the Zetas and possibly by corrupt Mexican police."
Puig's journey to get out of Cuba and to America is one of the most harrowing stories one can read, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports offered an in-depth and detailed report of what the All-Star went through.
Suarez's role in getting Puig to America, while not horrific like what Passan's article mentioned, violated U.S. immigration laws. Specifically, the AP report noted that the defense attorney mentions Suarez erred by bringing Puig "to the U.S. border without immigration papers."
The AP report also mentions no one else in Puig's case has been arrested.
Puig came to America and signed with the Dodgers in 2012. He played 23 games in the minors that season and 40 more in 2013 before being called up in June. The 24-year-old finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting and made his first All-Star team in 2014.
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