"I don't know anything about it," Ortiz said last night in the Red Sox clubhouse.
Beginning in 2003, Marquez allegedly submitted a series of applications to the Registry of Motor Vehicles in which he claimed to be a US citizen named Edwin Manuel Cotto Garcia, of Puerto Rico, according to a criminal complaint charging him with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents; fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents; and false claim to US citizenship.
Marquez was released Wednesday on $10,000 cash bail. His court-appointed attorney, Charles W. Rankin, said Marquez has no criminal record.
Marquez did not return messages left on his phones and the voice mail system at his apartment building.
"He's charged with three things which relate to his identity and he is here legally" in the United States, Rankin said.
Rankin added, "In the scheme of things in federal court, it's a minor case."
Under federal sentencing guidelines, Marquez, if convicted, could face probation or up to six months in prison. The US attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case, said Marquez also could face possible deportation if he were convicted.
Rankin would not comment on whether Marquez has any connection to Ortiz, or on how Marquez came up with $10,000 in cash for bail. Marquez was assigned a court-appointed attorney, paid for by the government, after he filed a financial affidavit with the court claiming he is indigent.
Red Sox spokesman John Blake said he was "very vaguely" familiar with the case and said the team would make no comment on it.
At the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, MLB.com described "Edwin Garcia" fraternizing with Ortiz during the Home Run Derby at PNC Park.
"As Ortiz paused late in the second round to collect himself, Garcia and another Team Papi member came out to refresh him with a towel and some encouragement," MLB.com reported.
The news site quoted the purported Garcia as saying he befriended Ortiz as a teenager in the Dominican Republic and introduced him to a baseball scout, Ramon De Los Santos, who signed Ortiz in 1992 to his first professional contract with the Seattle Mariners.
