By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Former Real Madrid center Marcus Slaughter has been summoned to testify on court as the trial for the case of the fake “Cotonou passports” of Equatorial Guinea begins, Spanish news agency EFE reports.
An arrest warrant for Slaughter had been issued in 2024 and Interpol located the player in his home in Texas. The Spanish judge ordered for the now retired big man to appear before the court for the trial.
The order said that, “The authorities of the United States of America are requested to proceed to proceed with the notification of the order opening the Oral Trial against Marcus Anthony Slaughter, with the delivery of a copy of the indictment and a request that within three days they appoint a lawyer and attorney to represent him or retain those designated in Spain…”
Slaughter faces charges of falsifying papers to receive the Equatorial Guinea passport that allowed him to participate in the Spanish ACB League with Real Madrid as a “domestic player” according to the Cotonou agreement. The American-born Slaughter was a member of the Los Blancos from 2012 to 2015.
According to EFE, the Prosecutor is seeking an 18-month prison sentence for Slaughter. Barcelona, Real Madrid’s archrival in Spain, has appealed, asking to raise the sentence to five years. The Blaugrana also request that Real Madrid will be stripped of the ACB and Copa Del Rey titles they won in 2015 with Slaughter on board.
Real also won the EuroLeague championship the same year.
In 2016, a judge in Spain began investigating the possibility that the Cotonou passports of both Slaughter and former ACB player and MVP Andy Panko were falsified. The process started after an early investigation showed that both players’ passports had the same number.