Yasiel Puig Found Guilty Of Obstructing Justice And Making False Statements In Gambling Case - Beritaja

A assemblage recovered erstwhile Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig blameworthy of obstruction of justness and making mendacious statements to investigators Friday successful Los Angeles national court.

The two-week proceedings concluded pinch the assemblage deliberating for about 2 days. Puig, 35, could look up to 20 years successful prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 26.

Puig faces a statutory maximum condemnation of 10 years successful national situation connected the obstruction of justness complaint and up to 5 years successful situation for the 2 mendacious connection charges. He remains free connected his ain recognizance.

The charges stemmed from a January 2022 video-conference interview pinch national investigators during which Puig was alleged to person lied about his sports betting. The investigators — led by Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeff Mitchell — were gathering accusation astatine the clip about an forbidden gambling ringing headed by Wayne Nix of Newport Coast.

Investigators alleged that Puig denied he had placed bets pinch Nix contempt grounds establishing that he made 899 wagers pinch the erstwhile insignificant convention pitcher connected shot and hoops games and tennis matches from July to September 2019.

Puig — who was not accused of betting connected shot — mislaid much than $1.5 cardinal successful sports bets, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Christen Seymour testified, and owed Nix $282,900.

Nix pleaded blameworthy successful 2022 to 1 count of conspiracy to run an forbidden gambling business and 1 count of subscribing to a mendacious taxation return. He is awaiting sentencing.

Mitchell would soon beryllium champion known for overseeing the investigation and condemnation of Shohei Ohtani’s erstwhile expert Ippei Mizuhara, who was sentenced a twelvemonth agone to 57 months successful national situation for slope fraud and filing a mendacious taxation return aft stealing $17 cardinal from Ohtani to salary disconnected his ain forbidden gambling debts.

But Mitchell’s liking successful Puig centered about what he knew about Nix, the target of the national probe successful 2022. According to a tribunal declaration reviewed by The Times, Mitchell told Puig’s lawyer that he didn’t judge it was a national crime to make payments to an forbidden bookmaker. Investigators were aft “an unlawful sports gambling organization,” Mitchell said.

Yet erstwhile Mitchell concluded Puig lied about placing bets done Nix intermediary Donny Kadokawa, he swiftly charged the outfielder pinch making mendacious statements and obstruction of justice.

Puig agreed successful August 2022 to plead blameworthy to 1 count of lying to national authorities and would person served nary jailhouse clip while paying a $55,000 fine. Weeks later, however, he backed retired of the agreement, and a judge ruled he could do truthful because he had not yet entered his blameworthy plea successful court.

“I want to clear my name,” Puig said successful a connection astatine the time. “I ne'er should person agreed to plead blameworthy to a crime I did not commit.”

It took different 3 years of pretrial ineligible wrangling, but Puig yet sewage his time successful tribunal successful January. Assistant U.S. Attys. Juan Rodriguez and Michael Morse served arsenic prosecutors aft Mitchell resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office successful May.

Puig’s defense centered about issues pinch the 2022 question and reply pinch Mitchell and investigators who represented the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS.

Defense lawyers Keri Curtis Axel and Brian Klein contended successful tribunal filings that Puig, who is from Cuba, was confused because of his connection obstruction and a dual test of ADHD and post-traumatic accent disorder. The investigators misinterpreted his answers, the attorneys said.

Steven Gebelin, who represented Puig successful 2021 and 2022, testified astatine proceedings that his then-client tried to beryllium adjuvant during the question and reply but, because the interpreter’s Spanish dialect differed from Puig’s, his answers were translated poorly. Puig did not attest astatine trial.

Axel contended during her closing connection that Puig did not dishonesty about his interactions pinch Nix and his associates, which occurred 2 years earlier the question and reply pinch investigators.

The investigators assumed Puig was lying erstwhile he became confused by the questioning and felt pressured to accurately recollect the specifications of his gambling activity, Axel argued, telling the assemblage that “assumptions and speculation are not evidence, and you shouldn’t trust connected it.”

Prosecutors besides alleged Puig said during the question and reply that he had mislaid $200,000 successful 2019 betting connected a website he couldn’t place and that a personification whose sanction he couldn’t callback instructed him to acquisition $200,000 successful cashier’s checks made retired to different customer of Nix’s to settee his gambling debt. Investigators considered Puig’s inability to retrieve the sanction a lie.

Kadokawa testified that he was the personification giving Puig instructions. Axel based on that Puig told the investigators later successful the question and reply that he had placed bets done Kadokawa, according to tribunal documents.

Prosecutors said Puig besides lied erstwhile he went done the naturalization process to go a U.S. national in 2019, producing grounds that he said connected an exertion and successful an question and reply that he ne'er gambled illegally.

After increasing up successful Cuba, Puig came to the United States successful 2012 and signed pinch the Dodgers. His attorneys called an master who testified that Puig’s arduous travel from his location state caused post-traumatic accent disorder.

UCLA psychology professor Marcel Pontón, a neuropsychology master witnesser for the prosecution, disputed that diagnosis. And Morse rebutted the contention that Puig couldn’t understand English by playing audio of Puig reflecting successful English about his interview.

The power-hitting outfielder quickly became a Dodgers instrumentality favorite, finishing 2nd successful National League Rookie of the Year voting successful 2013. Nicknamed the “Wild Horse,” Puig remained a fearsome beingness successful the lineup for six years and helped the Dodgers to the World Series successful 2018 erstwhile he deed a three-run homer successful Game 7 of the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.