When Detroit Tigers veteran Miguel Cabrera's estranged mistress threatened to go public with their extramarital affair
In 2017, Belkis Rodriguez, the former mistress of Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers star player, sued him for $100,000 monthly for child support.
Cabrera had a long affair with the woman. The two also had two children, a son and a daughter, who are now 11 and eight, respectively. The Detroit Tigers first baseman claimed to have been extorted by the woman.
Rodriguez, conversely, claims that Cabrera left her with no choice as he abandoned her and their children because of his first wife. Initially, she demanded $100,000 per month in accordance with Florida's law. But later, the case was settled with $20,000 per month as child support and benefits such as health care, $5 million worth of health insurance, daycare, and private tuition.
But before the case was settled, Cabrera's lawyers tried their best to win the case in his favor. In a court filing, they wrote:
"Following the birth of the second child, the mother became increasingly incensed by the father's refusal to leave his wife for her.
"The mother would regularly threaten the father to expose their relationship, and children, to his wife and the media, and to file a paternity suit wherein she would seek 'millions of dollars' from him."
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Miguel Cabrera had helped Rodriguez buy a house worth $1 million, but in 2017, his wife learned about the affair. It was then that he started distancing himself from Rodriguez.
Rodriguez claimed that because Cabrera was trying to appease his wife and stop her from divorcing him, he stopped paying the child support he usually did, so she had to file a case against him.
When Miguel Cabrera claimed he was getting extorted by his ex-mistress
Miguel Cabrera tried to fight his former mistress and the mother of his two children in the legal battle concerning child support, but he failed.
Cabrera's lawyers portrayed Belkis Rodriguez as a gold digger who was after the Detroit star's money. However, Rodriguez's legal team fought back against the claims with some statements of their own.
Rodriguez's lawyer made a written statement to the court, saying:
"Cabrera attempts to portray the mother as some villainous criminal attempting to 'extort' him for money ... when just the opposite is the case. She has made every attempt to work with the father over the years regarding child support.
"She has never attempted to 'extort' Cabrera for unreasonable sums of money in the hopes of securing 'alimony' for herself... These minor children have done nothing wrong and certainly deserve the appropriate support from their father as Florida law requires."
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Rodriguez's team eventually won the case. Miguel Cabrera now pays his former mistress $20,000 plus benefits every month.