Sports Agent Charged with Smuggling Baseball Players from Cuba

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November 01, 2006 10:21 AM

A Beverly Hills sports agent is facing federal charges for allegedly smuggling prospective major league baseball players into the U.S. from Cuba.

The indictment, announced Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), states that Gustavo "Gus" Dominguez and four other men engaged in a conspiracy to smuggle the athletes in on boats "for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain."

Investigators say Dominguez and his co-defendants made two runs to Cuba to pick up baseball prospects. The first attempt in July 2004 failed when law enforcement officials intercepted their boat at sea; investigators say a second attempt, in August 2004, succeeded in smuggling 19 Cubans into the country.

The new arrivals were allegedly driven from Florida to California in a rented van and put to work training for major league try-outs.

U.S immigration policy allows Cubans who make it to U.S. soil to stay in the country, but even so, it is a federal crime to smuggle them in. 

"Though this case involves a Beverly Hills sports agent and talented baseball players, it is remarkably similar to the human smuggling operations that ICE encounters every day," said ICE Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers. "The ringleaders put the lives of illegal immigrants at risk and sought to profit from their labor."

Dominguez, a Cuban-American, is vice president at a California firm called Total Sports International that represents major league players, including a number who defected from Cuba in the past. The company told ABC News it has no comment on the charges at this time.

Calls seeking comment from the lawyers representing Dominguez have not yet been returned.