EDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 22 – Just weeks before
the scheduled start of the baseball bribery trial of
suspended Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and
Luis Ortiz, along with bettor Robinson Vasquez Germosen,
in the Eastern District of New York, a lawyer in the
Southern District case for deadly fentanyl in Washington
Square Park asked for an adjournment.
Cesar de Castro explained the need:
"because a matter on which I was appointed late last week
in the Eastern District required unexpected and relatively
urgent international travel from October 16 to 18, 2026."
Inner City Press exclusively reported it, on October 9, here.
Days after his trip, the destination became
more widely known: the Dominican Republic. He had been
appointed to represent the fourth defendant in the Clase
case: Luis Arismendy Paca Mendez, who was then extradited
and detained.
But what of the November 2 trial date?
Ortiz quickly reiterated his request to
adjourn the trial, citing the newly arrived co-defendant.
Counsel to Vasquez Germosen wrote it to say all four
defendants should have a single trial, by implication
postponed. But on October 21, Ortiz put in his
exhibit list - like so many documents so far in the case,
entirely under seal. And on October 22 the US Attorney's
Office in a form of mea culpa wrote in, "When the messages
described above were recently converted to U.S.-Eastern
Time in connection with preparing trial exhibits, the
government observed that Clase’s exchange with Bettor-1
occurred shortly after, rather than during, the May 17,
2025 game."
Does this continued and accelerating
pace of filings mean that, despite the late arrival, the
November 2 trial is still on? Whenever it takes place,
Inner City Press will be covering it - in the right time
zone. Watch this site.
