Jose Abreu Told Jury He Ate Portion of Fake Passport During Smuggling Operation

Chicago White Sox star Jose Abreu admitted Wednesday to eating a page from a fake passport while traveling to the United States from Haiti to sign his first MLB contract. 

The Associated Press (via CBS Chicago) passed along comments Abreu made to a federal jury in Miami while testifying in a case focused on the illegal smuggling of baseball players from Cuba. He explained how he drank a beer while eating the falsified document.

"Little by little I swallowed that first page of the passport. I could not arrive in the United States with a false passport," Abreu said.

The 30-year-old Cuban took the stand in a case brought against agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada, who allegedly took part in alien smuggling and conspiracy. He stated his main contact was Amin Latouff, who was indicted but not yet arrested during the investigation.

Abreu told the jury he made the decision to travel and eat a portion of passport because his contract with the White Sox was at risk.

"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," he said in court. "We had to be in Chicago to sign the contract."

He ultimately signed the six-year, $68 million contract in October 2013. In December, he opted out of the final three years of that original deal and signed a one-year, $10.825 million pact with the White Sox for the 2017 season to avoid arbitration.

Abreu said Estrada provided his training and other necessities through his Total Baseball company in exchange for 20 percent of his contract and Hernandez negotiated his deal with Chicago for five percent. The AP pointed out Adeiny Hechavarria (Miami Marlins) and Leonys Martin (Seattle Mariners) have also testified during the ongoing trial.

The White Sox first baseman enjoyed a monster debut season in 2014 en route to being named American League Rookie of the Year, earning an All-Star Game selection and winning a Silver Slugger Award.

Abreu has remained one of the league's most potent offensive threats in the two years that followed. In all, he's posted a .299/.360/.515 triple-slash line with 91 home runs and 308 RBI across 458 games with the White Sox.

He was allowed to leave spring training to testify in the case. He'll return with plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming campaign. Chicago is scheduled to open the regular season at home against the division-rival Detroit Tigers on Monday, April 3.