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Former Major League Baseball outfielder Yasiel Puig was found guilty by a jury in a federal gambling case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
The verdict followed a week-long trial that included testimony from MLB officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach linked to Puig and the illegal gambling operation.
Puig played for three major league teams, spending the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has not appeared in an MLB game since 2019. Puig, 35, now faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
His sentencing is scheduled for May 26.
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Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig reacts after the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game 3 of the 2017 NLDS playoff baseball series at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on October 9, 2017. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)
Puig’s attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, argued that the government failed to prove key elements of its case and that she plans to file motions after the trial.
“We look forward to clearing Yasiel’s name,” Axel said.
Puig originally pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation.
He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea agreement that he racked up more than $280,000 in losses over a few months in 2019 while betting on tennis, football and basketball through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.
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Nix pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and to subscribing to a false tax return. Authorities said Puig placed at least 900 bets through betting websites controlled by Nix and through a man who worked for Nix.
Prosecutors said that during a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied knowing the nature of his bets, who he bet with and the circumstances surrounding the payment of his gambling debts.
But he changed his tune months later, announcing he was changing his plea to not guilty because of “significant new evidence,” according to a statement from his Los Angeles attorneys.
“I want to clear my name,” Puig said in the statement. “I should never have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.”
Yasiel Puig of Tiburones de La Guaira of Venezuela reacts after leaving a game due to an injury in the fourth inning during a game against the Dominican Republic at loanDepot park as part of the Series del Caribe 2024 February 9, 2024 in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/by Norte Photo/Getty Images)
The government alleged that he deliberately misled federal investigators. They played in court audio clips of Puig speaking English and brought in expert witnesses to testify about Puig’s cognitive abilities, The New York Times reported.
His lawyers said Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental health issues and did not have his own interpreter or criminal defense counsel with him during the interview with federal investigators when he allegedly lied.
Yasiel Puig of the Tiburones de la Guaira of Venezuela reacts during the fifth inning of a game against the Dominican Republic at loanDepot Park as part of the 2024 Serie del Caribe February 1, 2024 in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/Norte Photo/Getty Images)
Puig made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2013 and finished his major league career with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs. He was selected to the MLB All-Star team in 2014. Last year, he played for the Kiwoom Heroes, a professional baseball team based in Seoul.
