The lawsuit involving Robert Mederos of Cubanacan Cigars and the Soneros brand and its owners Omar and Luis González has been settled.

Frank Herrera, attorney for the González family issued a statement indicating the lawsuit has been settled with neither side receiving any money for damages:

The parties have amicably resolved all matters between them. Each side has waived any and all claims against each other with no payments being made to either party. The parties wish each other the best of success in their future endeavors. With the uncertainty surrounding the issues related to the FDA regulations, the parties deem settlement to be in their respective best interests.

The González family was responsible for producing cigars for Cubanacan, including the HR brand for Hirochi Robaina. In exchange, Cubanacan paid the family for the cigars and distributed the Soneros brand, which was owned by the González family.

Shortly before the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, the González family announced it was no longer producing cigars for Cubanacan due to allegations over a breach of contract and non-payment. Specifically, the family alleged it was owed over $800,000 for various loans and non-payments.

Mederos counter sued and eventually named La Palina as a third-party defendant in the lawsuit. The company claimed that tens of millions of dollars was lost in potential earnings due to the expected success of the HR brand, which Cubanacan believed would become a much larger success than the market has proven.

La Palina announced last year that it was working with Hirochi Robaina to produce a cigar, something that has never come to fruition and is believed to be abandoned.

The González family opened up their new La Corona factory last year in a building that used to house part of the old NACSA factory in Estelí. Hirochi Robaina has announced that his cigars are being distributed by Spence Drake, a former Cubanacan employee, through Drake’s new company White Hat Tobacco.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.