The musician lived an ostentatious lifestyle on the Island; among his belongings in Havana were a mansion in Guanabacoa, with swimming pool, bar and jacuzzi.
14ymedio, Havana, October 13, 2025 — After more than a decade in prison, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for seven felonies, Cuban reggaeton musician, Gilberto Martínez Suarez, known by his stage name Gilbert Man, was released on Monday. When reporting the news, the official Facebook page of El Taigeron said, without giving details about the terms of the release, “Today our team is happy because new things are coming.”
The musician was jailed on charges of money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion, electricity theft, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity. At the trial held in September 2016, the Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for him.
He was jailed on charges of money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion, electricity theft, bribery, deprivation of liberty and illicit economic activity
Gilbert Man has been living as a refugee in Cuba since 2013, after fleeing US justice, which also charged him with several fraud offenses. The artist, who has lived in the country since 2005, was flagged for using fake credit cards and identity theft in Martin and Miami-Dade counties in Florida.
Because of these charges in the US, Gilbert Man faced a sentence of up to 16 years in prison but paid bail and escaped before trial. Among other illegal activities, he was accused of fraud in the amount of $150,000 in purchases at stores such as Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us, as well as 176 fraudulent transactions with more than 100 credit cards, together with two alleged accomplices.
The US court also charged him with several fraud offenses
Ten months after his escape, he managed to obtain an identity card from the Cuban authorities and established himself in the country.
Once on the Island, he led an ostentatious lifestyle, which was reflected in social media. Among his belongings in Havana a mansion in Guanabacoa stood out, which had a swimming pool, bar and jacuzzi, precious wood furniture, wrought iron grills, curtains and carpets, collections of perfumes and beverages, along with bulky bundles of notes with which he posed for photos on Facebook.
It wasn’t long before Gilbert Man, who was also a producer of several Cuban reggaeton artists, was arrested in January 2015 by elite forces from the Ministry of the Interior, in an unusual operation. A video about that day leaked to social media went viral, though the official press never mentioned the event.
After the arrest and trial, which took 18 months to complete, the musician, who is about to turn 40, had all his property confiscated, including his house (now a home for orphans), five luxury cars (a Camaro, a Saab, a Hyundai, an Audi and a BMW), money (a sum that was not revealed) and the furniture.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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