This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.Yasiel Puig’s quest to return to the majors has taken him to multiple countries. Times staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this report. Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental-health issues, and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him.” Of the Zoom interview in which Puig is alleged to have lied to investigators, Axel said: “Mr. However, in a court hearing earlier that month, she suggested that messages left for Puig by the unnamed agent and his associate raised the possibility that Puig might have been entrapped. Axel did not say in the statement what that new evidence might be, and she told The Times through a spokesman: “We are prepared to publicly share that information in the appropriate forum and at the appropriate time.” "We are dumbfounded as to why the would prefer to spend taxpayer dollars without attempting to look at our evidence," Carnet said in the statement.Īxel said in a November statement that “significant new evidence” had prompted the withdrawal from the plea agreement. Puig's agent, Lisette Carnet, said Puig and his attorneys have unsuccessfully attempted to share exculpatory evidence to federal prosecutors.
There is no evidence in the plea agreement that Puig, who played for the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians in his Major League Baseball career, bet on baseball. 27, 2022, interview that he had never discussed betting with an unnamed agent working for Nix, described in the plea deal only as “a former collegiate baseball player and private baseball coach.” In fact, the government alleges, Puig had incurred debt of more than $280,000 on sports bets placed with that agent in the first half of 2019.Īfter paying off part of the debt, the government alleges, Puig made “899 bets on tennis, football, and basketball games” through an offshore website connected to Nix's ring.
#Peig dogers trial#
Castillo set a trial date for April 25.įederal authorities had been investigating an illegal sports gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor-league baseball player who lives in Newport Beach, when Puig allegedly lied in interviews about his involvement, according to the initial plea agreement.Īccording to federal prosecutors, Puig lied when he told investigators in a Jan. "By adding the additional count, they are seeking to punish Puig for exercising his Constitutional rights and asserting the truth - that he is not guilty." "We are disappointed that the United States Attorney's Office has further entrenched itself in its unfair prosecution of Yasiel Puig," she said in the statement. Puig's attorney, Keri Axel, criticized the additional charge recently filed against Puig, calling the federal case against him an "unfair prosecution." The new charge, she said in a statement to The Times, was not due to additional allegations against him, but based on the same interview Puig had given to federal officials. The count of making false statements carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. If convicted of obstruction of justice, Puig could face up to 10 years in prison. Puig pleaded not guilty to both counts Friday at the Edward R.
“I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.”Īs part of the original plea deal, federal prosecutors had agreed not to pursue a charge of obstruction of justice.įederal prosecutors moved forward with both charges after Puig refused to plead guilty in November, in spite of the previous agreement. “I want to clear my name,” Puig said in a Nov. He would have been eligible for probation under the agreement.īut weeks later, Puig withdrew from the plea deal. In November, the Cuban-born baseball player had agreed to plead guilty to one count of making false statements and agreed to pay a fine of at least $55,000.
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