Jose Abreu MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 02: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning of the game on September 2, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

In front of a federal grand jury in Miami on Wednesday, White Sox slugger Jose Abreu said he once ate a fake passport while flying to the US to cover up his illegal travel. This comes as part of an investigation into a smuggling operation that brought Cuban baseball players to the country.

On an Air France flight from Haiti to Miami, Abreu testified that he had ordered a beer and slowly ate the page which contained a false name and photo. He also said he traveled illegally because he was worried he’d miss an October 2013 deadline and lose out on the eventual $68 million contract he signed with the White Sox.

“If I had not been there on that particular day, the deadline, then the contract would not be executed and would no longer be valid,” Abreu told jurors. “We had to be in Chicago to sign the contract.”

[…]

“Little by little I swallowed that first page of the passport. I could not arrive in the United States with a false passport,” he said.

Florida sports agent Bartolo Hernandez and baseball trainer Julio Estrada are accused of alien smuggling and conspiracy as they are alleged to have operated a ring that took Cuban players from the island to third countries where they could eventually sign MLB contracts once they established residency. Other players testifying in this trial include the Marlins’ Adeiny Hechavarria as well as the Mariners’ Leonys Martin.

[AP Sports]

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.