Federal prosecutors are seeking 18 months in jail for Yasiel Puig after he was convicted of two counts in February.
On February 6, a jury found Puig guilty of lying to federal investigators and obstruction of justice following a 12-day trial. The accusations stemmed from a 2022 informal interview with the former MLB All-Star related to an illegal sports betting operation run by former minor leaguer Wayne Nix.
Puig was being questioned as a witness in the case and was not under investigation, but prosecutors alleged he lied during the interview. He told investigators that he knew Donny Kadokawa, the intermediary he placed bets with, through baseball, not sports betting. During the trial, the prosecution played surreptitiously recorded audio of Puig claiming he didn't cooperate with the investigation.
The 35-year-old's defense team argued he cooperated fully in the investigation and blamed the language barrier for some of his answers. The sentencing request is for 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and payment of $55,200 in fines. Puig is set to be sentenced on May 26.
‘Yasiel Puig is a first-time offender who has already been punished through years of prosecution, reputational damage, financial consequences, and the effective destruction of his professional life,”. “A prison sentence is not proportional to the conduct and would not accomplish any rehabilitative purpose here. The Court has complete discretion over the sentence, and the defense will request a sentence of probation. ”Puig has had a number of run-ins with the law during and after his time in the major leagues.
In April 2013, he was charged with reckless driving and speeding in Tennessee for allegedly going 97 mph in a 50 mph zone.after he completed 12 hours of community service, but eight months later, he was clocked going 110 mph in a 70-mph zone in Naples, Florida. Puig agreed to plead guilty in November 2022to not guilty. An appeals court later ruled his plea deal had not been accepted by a court, and he would stand trial in the case.
He was convicted on Feb. 6, 2026. After defecting from Cuba in 2012, Puig signed a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Dodgers. As a rookie in 2013, he hit .319 with 19 home runs, 42 RBIs and a .925 OPS. His second season in 2014 was his best in the big leagues.
He slashed .296/.382/.480 with 15 home runs, 37 doubles, 69 RBIs, a 148 wRC+ and produced a career-high 4.9 bWAR. He had a huge arm in the outfield despite being a below-average defender. Puig never reached those highs again but did have bursts of production. He was an exciting player when he’d get hot, but, despite immense talent, he was far too inconsistent to stay among the game’s best players.
During his seven-year MLB career, Puig slashed .277/.348/.475, with 132 home runs, a 124 wRC+ and produced 18.8 bWAR. He has played overseas in the years since, and is currently in the Canadian Baseball League as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024.
Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.
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