Florida Marlins' Leo Nunez reportedly playing under assumed name

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | September 22, 2011 | Juan C. Rodriguez

[ConservativeStatement]

The Marlins on Wednesday placed closer Leo Nunez on the restricted list so he could return to his native Dominican Republic to clear up a few things. Namely, his name.

A league source initially said Nunez was not missing the Marlins’ final six games as a result of improper conduct. Later, the source confirmed Nunez’s premature departure was the result of an immigration issue.

[ConservativeStatement]

It's Bruce Wayne.

[onona]

I’d like to use that excuse at work.

Yo, Brian has to go chill for awhile til he can get his whole namey thing figured out.

[NCcatdaddy]

My name José Jiménez

[SatinDoll]

“The Associated Press...reported Nunez’s real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo and is 29,..”

From the article.

I suppose this means he is here illegally?

[MAexile]

He’s only playing the Baseball that ordinary Americans can’t be bothered to play.

[Roccus]

I'd be interested in knowing at what real age he started playing organized ball here in the US. Was he another over-aged player in LL or other youth league? I wonder what tack the IRS and Social Security Administration is gonna take with his falsification of records?

[Alberta's Child]

It's interesting that this kind of thing is probably not rare in big-league baseball, but once the story started to get some legs it was the IRS and INS issues that probably drove the league to take this action.

Personally, I'm not sure the IRS and Social Security Administration has to do much here. If the guy paid his taxes, then maybe they don't care. Better yet, he may have done Social Security a favor by paying the top FICA tax on his earnings even though he'll never be collecting Social Security benefits.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Were you born to poor, but poverty stricken parents?

[Roccus]

IMO fraud is fraud (but I'm sure there are legal minds that would dispute this) As to the IRS and SSA, he knowingly committed fraud when he signed his W-4 form and any subsequent IRS forms.
The DR is a foreign country. Therefore he is an illegal alien.
FTA..."The report also said the Marlins had been aware of the discrepancy for months." The Marlins have therefore been breaking the law by KNOWINGLY employing an illegal alien.

But I could be out in left field over all this as it seems that American laws seem to only apply to Americans......'though not ALL Americans.

[Alberta's Child]

Understood. Legally, I think a prosecutor would have to make the case that in order for a fraud charge to have any legs, an actual "victim" would have to be identified -- and by "victim" I mean a party who can clearly demonstrate that they suffered a tangible financial loss or some kind of harm (loss of reputation, for example) due to the actions of the perpetrator.

In the absence of anything of this sort, I believe the guy's actions would basically be a violation of U.S. immigration laws and the most likely corrective action would be to simply deport him.

Interestingly, he may have a more serious problem back in his home country -- if he used his fake identity to avoid paying taxes that he would have been obligated to pay there.