Former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was convicted Friday on federal charges tied to an illegal sports gambling investigation and faces up to 15 years in prison.
A federal jury found the 35-year-old guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators after a trial in downtown Los Angeles that lasted nearly two weeks. Puig’s sentencing is scheduled for May 26.
Prosecutors said Puig initially planned to plead guilty in November 2022 to a single count of lying to federal authorities, a deal that would have made him eligible for probation and required a minimum fine of about $55,000. He withdrew from that agreement less than two weeks later, saying he should not have agreed to plead to a crime he did not commit. A Los Angeles judge later ruled the unentered deal was not binding.
The case stems from a 2017 probe into an illegal betting operation run by former player Wayne Nix, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiring to operate an illegal gambling business and to filing a false tax return and is awaiting sentencing. Federal agents say their investigation into Nix uncovered evidence that Puig began placing bets in May 2019 through one of Nix’s associates.
According to the Justice Department, Puig incurred nearly $283,000 in gambling losses to Nix’s operation in a single month and placed 899 wagers between July and September 2019 on sports including tennis, football and basketball. The filings do not indicate whether any of the bets were on baseball.
In a 90-minute videoconference interview with federal agents in 2022, prosecutors say Puig denied knowing about Nix’s gambling business or its associates and lied repeatedly after being warned that false statements were a crime. Prosecutors point to a WhatsApp message Puig sent two months later in which he admitted to lying to agents and to obstructing the grand jury investigation. They also say he made false statements on a U.S. immigration form and under oath during his 2019 naturalization interview.
Puig’s attorneys disputed those accounts at trial, arguing that he has a limited education, untreated mental health issues, and that he did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him during the interview. The defense sought to undermine the government’s account of his knowledge and intent.
The false-statement count carries a maximum sentence of five years; the obstruction count carries up to 10 years, for a combined potential term of 15 years, according to prosecutors. The Justice Department’s release noted Puig remains free on his own recognizance pending sentencing.
Puig, who defected from Cuba and signed with the Dodgers in 2012, played six seasons in Los Angeles before being traded to Cincinnati and then Cleveland in 2019. That year was his last in Major League Baseball. In recent years he has played overseas for South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes in the KBO and for El Águila de Veracruz in the Mexican League.