LA Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig is being sued for $12 million by a Cuban man. The man alleges that Puig knowingly made false allegations against him that resulted in a seven-year prison sentence.
The complaint was filed by Miguel Angel Corbacho Daudinot and seeks damages for his “prolonged arbitrary detention and torture.” While Corbacho Daudinot is in Cuba, his lawyers filed the lawsuit in Florida.
The claim that the US court has jurisdiction to hear the case under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991. The Los Angeles Times reports that the act will permit a civil case to be filed in the United States against an individual who commits an act of torture while acting in an official capacity in a foreign country.
Yasiel Puig and his mother testified at the Cuban man’s trial in 2010. He was convicted of human trafficking — or essentially plotting Puig’s escape from Cuba , according to ESPN . But Corbacho Daudinot denies he ever offered to help Puig escape from Cuba.
Puig attempted to defect in 2011 during the World Poirt Tournament with teammate Gerardo Concepcion. Concepcion was successful, but Puig was not. The MLB rookie was eventually successful, defecting from Cuba in 2012 and signing a seven year, $42 million contract with the Dodgers.
the lawsuit alleges that Puig knowingly made false claims against Miguel Angel Corbacho Daudinot in order to show his allegiance to the Cuban government and be reinstated in the country’s top baseball league, along with the national-team program. Puig was initially demoted when the government suspected he wanted to flee the country.
Lawyers representing the Cuban man filed a similar lawsuit against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman last year on behalf of different plaintiffs.
Corbacho Daudinot ended up serving three and 1/2 years in prison before being released under the country’s “provisional liberty” program. He will have travel restrictions for the next three years, preventing him from returning to his home in the Dominican Republic.
Yasiel Puig and his agent, Jaime Torres, will not comment on the lawsuit.
