Atlanta Braves must send Latin American scouting reports to the Department of Justice.
According to a report in the Washington Post, The US Department of Justice (DoJ) served subpoenas on the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres “seeking records relating to scouting and signing of players from Latin America.”
While this report is dated May 23rd, there was no indication of when these subpoenas were actually issued, though the investigation is known to have been in progress for close to a year now.
Last September Jeff Passan reported that a Federal Grand Jury subpoenaed officials from several teams including “at least one former Atlanta Braves official as well as people involved with the signing of Cuban star Hector Olivera.”
"Agents from the FBI have spearheaded the investigation, according to sources familiar with it, and lawyers from the Department of Justice who specialize in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases – which typically involve bribery of foreign officials – are involved as well."
This news comes just a year after MLB severely sanctioned the Atlanta Braves for their actions in Latin America during the John Coppolella/John Hart regime.
Alan wondered at the time why Gordon Blakeley’s name never appeared in Passan’s post, as he helped the Yankees scout and sign in Latin America before coming to Atlanta to assist Coppolella. We may now have an answer,
What’s it all about Alfie?
The probe centers on something called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Alan explained in layman’s terms in his original post.
"the provisions of the FCPA are an attempt to level the playing field for those doing business internationally by telling US citizens that they can’t pay a bribe to (or anything that looks like there’s a bribe) to a ‘foreign official’ to facilitate a business transaction."
In the Post article, Hobson says that more than a dozen people associated with the game, including scouts and a former MLB official (Bud Selig comes to mind) testified before the Grand Jury, as well as players and at least one agent.
The DoJ indicted a native Cuban agent Bart Hernandez sports and trainer Julio Estrada also from Cuba. At their trial, documents produced suggested the New York Yankees were aware crimes were being committed.
"… State Department document summarized an August 2012 interview … between a U.S. consulate official and a Cuban pitcher, Omar Luis … (that Luis) “Was directly recruited from Cuba by the Yankees,” the State Department official wrote. When asked about how he got residency in Haiti, the report said the player replied, “The Yankees contacted a Haitian functionary who make [sic] it all happen.”"
Blakeley left the Yankees in 2014 and joined the Atlanta Braves.