MIAMI - The convicted ringleader of a smuggling organization that brought more than 1,000 Cubans into the U.S., some of them baseball players including Texas Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin, was sentenced Monday to more than 14 years in federal prison.U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard rejected a request for leniency by Eliezer Lazo, whom she noted was paid $22,000 a month through the scheme — not counting the percentages of any professional baseball contracts the players signed. Prosecutors say Martin paid the Lazo group $1.2 million after signing with the Rangers in 2011.Thats a lot of money, Lenard said.Lazo, 41, will begin serving the sentence after finishing an unrelated five-year prison term for money laundering in a Medicare fraud case. In the smuggling case, he pleaded guilty in August to extortion conspiracy.The Lazo organization smuggled Cubans by boat to Mexico for $10,000 each, more for the baseball players, according to court documents. They would then usually travel to the U.S. border crossing at Laredo, Texas, and ask to be permitted to stay in the U.S.Under the U.S. wet foot, dry foot policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the U.S. are generally allowed to remain while those intercepted at sea are returned to the communist island. Lazos attorney, William Clay, said many of Lazos customers were overjoyed to make it to the U.S. despite the costs.They had gotten what they bargained for, Clay said.But Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Davidson said migrants who couldnt pay were held for ransom by armed guards, often threatened and sometimes beaten. Although Lazo himself did not participate in any violence, Davidson said he was well aware it was going on.This man is not a freedom fighter, Davidson said.The case also provided a glimpse into how Mexican drug cartels get their cut of the migrant smuggling business. Court documents show that in the Cancun area, the Zetas cartel charges Cuban smugglers $10,000 per boat and up to $3,000 per migrant to allow them to pass through their territory and assist in paying bribes to local officials.No evidence surfaced in the case that Martin or any of the other valuable Cuban ballplayers were mistreated. Only Martin has been identified by name in the Lazo case, but other Cuban stars such as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig have also been smuggled through Mexico.Aside from being free from Cuba, baseball players from that country have an incentive to go to a third country such as Mexico before signing MLB contracts. If they came directly to the U.S., they would be subject to the MLB draft and likely sign a less lucrative deal. Going to Mexico first makes them free agents looking for the highest bidder.Martin, a speedy outfielder, signed a five-year, $15.5 million contract with the Rangers in 2011. Last year he batted .274 and stole 31 bases.Clay indicated he may appeal Lazos sentence, calling it unreasonable because Lazo offered to co-operate with investigators before he was indicted and had only a limited role in the extortion. For his part, Lazo apologized for his crimes through a Spanish interpreter.I am very repentant and remorseful for the crimes I have committed, Lazo said. I am so sorry I got involved in these issues._____Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt Fake Spurs Jerseys . Many of those eyes are in the United States of America, a country that the sport has wanted on its side for some time. On Sunday the football Gods delivered once again, only this time it was time for good old USA to experience as much heartache as joy. Malik Rose Jersey . 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The Swiss star outlasted Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal thriller last year and stunned Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title.PRETORIA, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius defence team called an anesthetist to testify at the double-amputee runners murder trial Thursday in an attempt to counter prosecution claims that Pistorius is lying about the timeline of events on the night he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Prof. Aina Christina Lundgren was being questioned on her expertise regarding how long it takes a person to digest food after eating. The testimony relates to an autopsy report on Steenkamps body that said she still had food in her stomach after she was killed by Pistorius, leading prosecutors to challenge his story that the couple last ate around eight hours before he shot her through a toilet door. An expert testifying for the prosecution said a persons stomach is normally empty of food six hours after eating and Steenkamp ate much later on the night of the killing and not in line with Pistorius story. Prosecutors say thats because the couple were up arguing late into the night before Pistorius shot Steenkamp multiple times in the midst of a heated fight through a toilet stall door in his bathroom. Pistorius says he mistook her for an intruder hiding behind the closed toilet stall door. He testified the couple had dinner at around 7 p.m. on the night she was killed, and they were in bed around 10 p.m. Pistorius shot Steenkamp after 3 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2013. Lundgren, who described herself as a specialist anesthetist, testified that there are a number of factors that could have delayed the digestion process in Steenkamp to explain the food found in her stomach, including that she was a pre-menopausal woman and had been sleeping. Lundgren was presented by the defence to try and undermine the testimony of pathologgist Prof.dddddddddddd Gert Saayman, who said it was his opinion that Steenkamp ate much later than Pistorius says, possibly even at around 1 a.m. when the runner claims they were in bed. Lundgren said it was difficult to be exact about the rate of digestion and it was "speculative to attempt to estimate when she had last eaten." Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel cross-examined Lundgren and pointed to Saaymans findings that he could even identify vegetable and cheese matter in Steenkamps stomach. "Would you not have expected the digestive process to have caused the contents to be unrecognizable after eight hours?" Nel asked Lundgren. "I cant comment," she replied. "But he can, and he did," Nel said of Saaymans report. The state pathologist was present in the courtroom and Nel asserted that his evidence was "more probable." Replying to Nels questions, Lundgren said she was a clinician and unwilling to criticize Saayman, a pathologist. However, later on re-examination by chief defence lawyer Barry Roux, she said she did not agree with Saaymans assertion that Steenkamp ate at 1 a.m. or after. Pistorius lawyers also said in a statement Thursday that an offer to buy the villa where the Olympian killed Steenkamp had been accepted and the sale of the house was being processed. Pistorius is selling his home in the gated community in the South African capital Pretoria to help with his legal bills. His trial is now into its seventh week of testimony. Lawyer Brian Webber said they would not identify who was buying the house or the amount it was being sold for until the sale was finalized. Pistorius last year valued the house at about $450,000. ' ' '