Yasel Puig once represented the Los Angeles Dodgers in the MLB All-Star Game. He batted .319 as a rookie in 2013 and clouted a career-high 28 home runs in 2017. Soon, though, Puig may be exchanging his Dodger blue uniform for prison stripes.
On Friday, the former MLB player was
found guilty by a jury
of lying to federal law enforcement officials about bets on sporting events that he placed with an illegal gambling operation. The 35-year-old Puig was convicted on one count of obstruction of justice and one count of making false statements.
According to evidence presented at trial, Puig began placing bets on sporting events through Donny Kadokawa, a sub-agent of the illegal gambling business run by Wayne Joseph Nix. Puig called and sent text messages to Kadokawa with wagers on sporting events. Kadokawa then submitted the bets to the Nix gambling business on Puig’s behalf. By June 2019, Puig had run up $282,900 in sports gambling losses.
Puig eventually used cashier’s checks to pay off his gambling debt. He made nearly 900 further sports bets through this illegal gambling operation on tennis, football, and basketball games, running up a debt of almost $1 million. Puig placed many of these bets at MLB ballparks just before and after games in which he played.
When questioned, Puig lied to federal law enforcement officials
In January 2022, Puig was interviewed about the illegal gambling activity by federal investigators. The interview took place in the presence of Puig’s lawyers.
During the interview, despite being warned that lying to federal agents is a crime, Puig lied several times. He falsely stated that he only knew Kadokawa from baseball and that he never discussed gambling with him.
Agents showed Puig a copy of one of the cashier’s checks he purchased on June 25, 2019. Puig falsely stated that he did not know the person who instructed him to send $200,000 in cashier’s checks. He also falsely stated that he had placed a bet online with an unknown person on an unknown website, resulting in a loss of $200,000.
In March 2022, Puig sent his friend and gambling associate Benny Bonilla an audio message via WhatsApp. On the call, he admitted to lying to federal agents and to obstructing their grand jury investigation.
United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee scheduled a May 26 sentencing hearing. Puig will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison on the obstruction of justice charge and up to five years in prison for the false statement charges.
Puig remains free on his own personal recognizance. Along with the Dodgers, Puig also played for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians during his MLB career from 2013-19. He played for the Dodgers in the 2017 and 2018 World Series.
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