Havana/After more than a decade in prison, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for seven crimes, Cuban reggaeton artist Gilberto Martínez Suárez, known by his stage name Gilbert Man, was released this Monday. When reporting the news, El Taiger’s official Facebook page said, without giving details about the terms of the release, that “today our team is happy because new things are coming.”
The musician was imprisoned accused of money laundering, tax falsification, tax evasion, theft of electricity, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity. In the trial held in September 2016, the Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of 20 years in prison for him.
He was imprisoned for money laundering, tax falsification, tax evasion, theft of electricity, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity.
Gilbert Man had been living as a refugee in Cuba since 2013, after fleeing US justice, which also accused him of several crimes of fraud. The artist, who had lived in that country since 2005, was accused of using fake credit cards and identity theft in the Florida counties of Martin and Miami-Dade.
For these charges in the United States, Gilbert Man faced a sentence of up to 16 years in prison, but he paid bail and escaped before the trial took place. Among other illicit activities, he was accused of fraud worth $150,000 in purchases at stores such as Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us, as well as making 176 fraudulent transactions with more than 100 credit cards, along with two alleged accomplices.
The American justice system also accused him of several crimes of fraud.
Ten months after his escape, he managed to obtain an identification card from the Cuban authorities and settled in the country.
Already on the Island he led an ostentatious life, which was reflected on social networks. Among his belongings in Havana stood out a mansion in Guanabacoa, with a swimming pool, bar and jacuzzi, precious wood furniture, wrought iron bars, curtains and carpets, collections of perfumes and drinks, along with bulky wads of cash with which he posed in his photos on Facebook.
It wasn’t long before Martínez Suárez, who was also a producer for several Cuban reggaeton artists, was arrested in January 2015 by elite forces of the Ministry of the Interior, in an unusual operation. A video about that day that was leaked to social networks went viral, although the official press never mentioned the event.
After the arrest and trial, which took 18 months to take place once he was detained, the musician, who is about to turn 40, had all his property confiscated, including his house (today converted into a home for children without parents), five luxury cars (a Camaro, a Saab, a Hyundai, an Audi and a BMW), money (a sum that was not revealed) and furniture.
