Marlins Pitcher Formerly Known as Leo Nuñez Faces Criminal Charges Over Assumed Name
Florida Marlins closer Leo Nuñez -- er, Juan Carlos Oviedo -- could be criminally prosecuted over stealing best friend's identity to play baseball
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Not Leo Nunez watches his career with the Marlins go up in smoke.
If he's seen the team's new logo, perhaps he won't mind.
The Marlins pitcher formerly known as Leo Nunez will likely face criminal charges for using a false identity, prosecutors in his native Dominican Republic told the Miami Herald.
Dominican officials confirmed to the Herald that 'Nunez' is actually Juan Carlos Oviedo, who at 29 is actually a year older than he is listed on the Marlins roster.
The incredible story -- only the Marlins! -- was revealed this week when two people familiar with his immigration status told the Associated Press Oviedo had been playing under an assumed name and he finally 'fessed up six years after making his MLB debut.
"It's the first time I had a -- how should I say this -- a guy playing with an alias," McKeon told the AP before Friday's game. "I don't know what the circumstances are."
Oviedo, who was placed on the Marlins' restricted list, returned home on Thursday.
Jacqueline Lamarche, a spokeswoman for the Dominican Attorney General's Office, told the Herald that Oviedo will face jail time if he's convicted.
The pitcher could also run into trouble getting a United States visa to return to Major League Baseball if he ends up with conviction for false identity on his record.
Domincan consul general Manuel Felipe Almanzar told the Herald that Oviedo stole his best friend's name.
"He came in and made a sworn declaration saying that he was not from Jamao al Norte but from Bonoa, a town in the Dominican Republic, and that when he was young - still a minor and a prospect about to be signed - a coach who managed his league recommended that he assume another name, one of a person a year younger, so that he could get a better contract," Almanzar told the Herald.
"So he became Leonel Nunez Morales, who was his best friend since childhood. That made it easier for him, because Leonel was 16, which was an appropriate age for a Dominican baseball player."
Although the MLB offered amnesty to players born in a foreign country if they admitted to playing under false identities or birth certificates, Oveido didn't confess when originally confronted, reports the Herald.
Oviedo flew back to Santo Domingo under a new passport bearing his birth name, the paper said.
"He's had success with a false name, and he wants to fix it," Almanzar told the Herald. "I sat there with my mouth open. You have to understand: I am a fan! I go to Marlins games to see him pitch."
Oviedo has 36 saves and a 4.06 ERA in 68 games this year. His ERA was 2.59 in late May, but is 6.00 since then.
"You hate to see it because he's a good kid," McKeon told the Herald. "I think sometimes they get bad information."
Posted Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 - 11:03 AM EST
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