Reds' Chapman sued for $18M over Cuban conviction

CBSSports.com ^ | May 22, 2012

[ConservativeStatement]

MIAMI -- A major league pitcher who defected from Cuba is being sued for $18 million by a Cuban-American man imprisoned on the communist island.

The lawsuit was filed recently in Miami federal court against Aroldis Chapman, a left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. The lawsuit claims Chapman falsely accused Danilo Curbelo Garcia of involvement in human trafficking, leading to his 2008 arrest and conviction in Cuba. Curbelo Garcia is serving a 10-year sentence.

Chapman defected in 2009 in the Netherlands and was signed a year later by the Reds to a six-year, $30.25 million contract. The lawsuit claims Chapman accused Curbelo Garcia to win favor with the Cuban government so he could rejoin its national baseball team and eventually travel overseas to stage his escape. Chapman had been suspended from the team for a previous attempt to flee Cuba.

[ConservativeStatement]

Filed in Miami. Lovely. The Reds temporarily changed their name to Red Legs backs in the 50s because of Commies.

[Jacquerie]

Curbelo Garcia himself is a permanent legal U.S. resident in Miami who also holds Cuban citizenship.

Oops. Cuban citizen. File your suit in Havana.