Chicago White Sox slugger Jose Abreu made a rather unsettling confession about his journey to the United States of America on Wednesday.
Abreu appeared before a federal jury in Miami in the trial of two men accused of smuggling and conspiracy, where he revealed to jurors that he ate a fake passport on his way to the U.S. from Haiti in 2013.
The 2014 American League Rookie of the Year claims had he not made it to Chicago on that specific day, he would have been unable to sign his monster contract.
“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, according to The Associated Press, as transcribed by FOX Sports. “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 made it Chicago, inked a six-year, $68 million contract with the White Sox and has since become one of the most feared hitters in baseball.
Abreu is one of “several major leaguers who have testified in the ongoing trial of agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada, who are accused of running a smuggling ring that brought Cuban-born players illegally into the U.S,” according to FOX Sports’ Chris Bahr.
In three MLB seasons, Abreu has hit for a .299 average with 91 home runs and 308 RBIs.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
