Former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has agreed to plead guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating an illegal sports gambling.
Yasiel Puig : Gambling | sports betting | Net worth
Yasiel Puig Valdés is a Cuban-born American professional baseball right fielder for Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League.
| Born: December 7, 1990 Cienfuegos, Cuba |
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Bats: Right
Throws: Right
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| Professional debut | |
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| MLB: June 3, 2013, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| KBO: April 2, 2022, for the Kiwoom Heroes |
He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians.
His nickname is “The Wild Horse”, given to him by former longtime Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully.
Puig previously played for the Cuba national baseball team in the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship, winning a bronze medal. He defected from Cuba in 2012, and signed a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Dodgers.
Yasiel Puig Gambling
Former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has agreed to plead guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating an illegal sports-gambling ring, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
Puig, 31, will plead guilty to one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California said.
He has agreed to pay a fine of at least $55,000 and is set to make an initial court appearance Tuesday.
“Under the sentencing guidelines he will be eligible for probation and he looks forward to putting this behind him,” said Keri Axel, Puig’s attorney.
Federal 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 lied in interviews about his involvement, according to the plea agreement.
In 2019, Puig began placing bets through a third party working for Nix and soon racked up debt of more than $280,000, according to the plea agreement.
After paying off part of the debt, Puig placed hundreds of bets on tennis, football and basketball through websites connected to Nix’s ring. The plea agreement did not specify whether Puig bet on baseball.
The third party, a former collegiate baseball player and private coach referred to in court documents as “Agent 1,” placed and accepted bets for Nix’s business, whose client list included current and former professional athletes, the court documents said.
Yasiel Puig sports betting
Former major league outfielder Yasiel Puig pled guilty to lying to federal agents during an investigation into an illegal gambling operation, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California.
The official charge, making false statements, is a felony that can carry a sentence of up to five years in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney, Puig has agreed to pay a fine of at least $55K as part of a plea agreement initially filed in August.
He’s expected to make a court appearance tomorrow; it isn’t clear whether he’ll be formally sentenced at that point, nor did the U.S. Attorney announce whether Puig is expected to serve any prison time.
The press release states that Puig agreed to place hundreds of bets in an illicit gambling ring between May and September 2019. The U.S. Attorney indicates that Puig — then a member of the Reds and Indians — bet on football, tennis and basketball but does not suggest he ever placed a bet on baseball.
The criminal charge stemmed not from the bets themselves but a meeting with federal investigators this past January, in which Puig told agents he’d never discussed gambling with an anonymous member of the operation.
The press release indicates Puig then told a second individual in March that he’d lied to federal investigators during the January interview; agents evidently obtained that message at some point in recent months.
Puig has not played in the majors since that 2019 season. The former Dodgers All-Star sat out the 2020 campaign after a positive COVID-19 test derailed a free agent deal with the Braves. The following offseason, reports emerged he was facing a civil suit for an alleged 2018 sexual assault.
Net worth
According to celebritynetworth, Yasiel Puig is a Cuban professional baseball player who has a net worth of $18 million.
| Net Worth: | $18 Million |
| Salary: | $7 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Dec 7, 1990 (31 years old) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Profession: | Baseball player |
| Nationality: | Cuba |
Yasiel Puig was born in 1990 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and defected from his home country in 2012. That same year he signed a 7-year $42 million deal with the Dodgers.