Disgraced Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was blackmailed into paying his cousin $1 million to keep quiet about his PED use, according to a report from the New York Daily News.
Court papers say his cousin, Yuri Sucart, threatened to expose A-Rod's doping use unless he was paid "enormous" sums of money. Rodriguez ended up paying his cousin a lump sum of $700,000, and then three other payments that totaled $200,000.
Sucart then increased his demands, asking for a "life estate", but Rodriguez was already in the middle of Major League Baseball's Biogenesis investigation.
Sucart is a defendant in the federal case against Biogenesis, but has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Patrick Sullivan said that Rodriguez “has a prominent role in the government’s proof of Count 1 and Count 2 conspiracies to distribute testosterone and human growth hormone,” suggesting he may be a witness against Sucart.
Rodriguez was suspended for 162 games - an entire season - by MLB commissioner Bud Selig for his involvement in the Biogenesis probe and attempts to hinder the investigation.
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