Major League Baseball has suspended a Dominican Republic prospect after a league investigation uncovered an elaborate plot to portray the player as nearly two years younger than his actual age, ESPN reported Friday. The scheme, which included falsified records and a staged gravesite, led to the cancellation of a $2.8m agreement with the Cleveland Guardians.
Fraudulent identity and fake grave
The player, who went by the name David Severino, had agreed in December to a $2.8m pre-deal with the Guardians, who believed he was 13 or 14 years old. The deal was set to be finalized in 2029, when Severino was expected to be 17 and eligible to officially sign. In reality, according to ESPN's sources, Severino is 16 years old and named Daury David Severino Damaso.
In 2023, Francisco Nieves, Severino's trainer at the time, allegedly created the false identity of David Severino Damaso, posing as Daury's younger brother. Nieves reportedly created a false death certificate for Daury, claiming he died of a respiratory illness two years after birth, and even built a fake tombstone that was planted at a gravesite in the Dominican Republic.
Trainer's involvement and investigation
John Pereyra, a trainer with more than 30 years in the business who runs an academy called Futuro Big Leaguers out of Santiago, said he was told when he first saw Severino work out that he was 11 years old. Pereyra ultimately agreed to pay Nieves $20,000 for Severino's rights.
Pereyra trained Severino for two years leading up to the agreement with the Guardians but said he knew nothing about the age-fraud plot. He said he had initial suspicions when he learned Severino's parents filed his birth certificate late, but this is not uncommon in poor areas. When he learned Severino's younger brother died young, "I did my own investigation," he told ESPN, even visiting the brother's supposed grave, which eased his concerns.
Pereyra only learned of an issue when he received a message from Nieves in May that MLB was investigating Severino's deal, which soon thereafter fell apart. Pereyra said he doesn't place blame on Severino or his parents for going along with the plot, citing the desperation to escape poverty.
Extent of the scheme
"When you have a kid," Pereyra said in Spanish, per ESPN, "and you tell him, 'Look, your name is not Daury. If someone asks your name, you say, David Severino Damaso' – [he will] do it."
Although poverty-stricken areas in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela have been ripe for age and identity fraud by players desperate for an advantage to make it to the majors, the extent of this scheme reportedly shocked team executives, trainers and scouts. "You have to have [guts] to do something like this," Pereyra said, per ESPN. "I've heard about false birth documents and stuff like that, but to put together what this guy did – that's movie stuff. That's the first time I've ever seen anything like that in the Dominican. In my life, I have never seen anything like that."
It is unclear what prompted MLB to investigate Severino, whose agreement with Cleveland was canceled in May. The league, the Guardians and Nieves have not commented on the matter.
