Jury finds ex-MLB outfielder Yasiel Puig responsible in federal playing probe

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Former Main League Baseball outfielder Yasiel Puig was discovered responsible by a jury in a federal playing case, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace introduced Friday.

The decision adopted a weekslong trial that included testimony from MLB officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach tied to Puig and the unlawful playing operation.

Puig performed for 3 main league groups, spending the majority of his profession with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has not appeared in an MLB recreation since 2019. Puig, 35, now faces as much as 20 years in federal jail.

His sentencing is scheduled for Could 26.

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Los Angeles Dodgers proper fielder Yasiel Puig reacts after the third inning towards the Arizona Diamondbacks throughout Recreation 3 of the 2017 NLDS playoff baseball sequence at Chase Discipline in Phoenix, Ariz., Oct. 9, 2017. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA As we speak Sports activities)

Puig’s legal professional, Keri Curtis Axel, argued the federal government did not show key parts of its case and that she plans to lift post-trial motions.

"We look ahead to clearing Yasiel’s title," Axel mentioned.

Puig initially pleaded responsible to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an unlawful playing operation.

He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea settlement that he wracked up greater than $280,000 in losses over just a few months in 2019 whereas wagering on tennis, soccer and basketball video games by way of a 3rd occasion who labored for an unlawful playing operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball participant.

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Nix pleaded responsible in 2022 to conspiracy to function an unlawful playing enterprise and subscribing to a false tax return. Authorities mentioned Puig positioned no less than 900 bets by way of Nix-controlled betting web sites and thru a person who labored for Nix.

Prosecutors mentioned that, throughout a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied realizing concerning the nature of his bets, who he was betting with and the circumstances of paying his playing money owed.

However he modified his tune months later, saying that he was switching his plea to not responsible due to "important new proof," in accordance with a press release from his attorneys in Los Angeles.

"I wish to clear my title," Puig mentioned within the assertion. "I by no means ought to have agreed to plead responsible to a criminal offense I didn't commit."

Yasiel Puig of Tiburones de La Guaira of Venezuela reacts after leaving a recreation as a result of damage within the fourth inning throughout a recreation towards the Dominican Republic at loanDepot park as a part of Collection del Caribe 2024 Feb. 9, 2024, in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/by Norte Photograph/Getty Pictures)

The federal government argued he deliberately misled federal investigators. They performed in court docket audio clips of Puig talking English and introduced professional witnesses to testify on Puig’s cognitive talents, The New York Instances reported.

His attorneys mentioned Puig, who has a third-grade training, had untreated psychological well being points and didn't have his personal interpreter or felony authorized counsel with him in the course of the interview with federal investigators when he allegedly lied.

Yasiel Puig of Tiburones de la Guaira of Venezuela reacts within the fifth inning of a recreation towards the Dominican Republic at loanDepot Park as a part of the Serie del Caribe 2024 Feb. 1, 2024, in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/Norte Photograph/Getty Pictures)

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Puig made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2013 and completed his main league profession with 132 residence runs and 415 RBIs. He was chosen to the MLB All-Star workforce in 2014. Final yr, he performed for the Kiwoom Heroes, an expert baseball workforce primarily based in Seoul.