Yasiel Puig may go to prison after pleading guilty in sports betting case. The former MLB All-Star was revealed Monday morning as he reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in an illegal gambling investigation, which could land him behind bars for two years or more.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that Yasiel Puig would enter a guilty plea Tuesday. According to this release, he has admitted to lying about placing wagers through an unknown person connected with Wayne Nix.”
When Nix was just a minor leaguer, he had an idea to make some extra cash. He started gambling and soon found that his connections within sports helped him, land clients with high salaries – including current athletes and professional ones.
In March 2017, prosecutors said this man’s crimes went beyond illegal betting on games: They included recruiting others for tax evasion schemes where you can win big if you were lucky enough but only faced legal consequences when things go wrong or crooked accountant stealing from everyone.
The 31-year-old former Los Angeles Dodger and current Cincinnati Reds batter, Puig, was betting on sporting events when he got into trouble with Nix.
The agents say that they began exchanging money through their website in May 2019, but by June of this year, Puig owed $282K worthwhile, blocking him from placing any more bets due to not paying off what was already owed earlier last month.
In the past two months, pitcher Yasiel Puig has bet nearly 900 times on tennis games. He played for Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians during this time.
The 31-year-old outfielder is having his best season in Korea, hitting .326 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. His contract will soon be up after this year, so Puig may return to MLB next spring if possible
old teammate Josh Hamilton gave him some advice before playing for Mexico last fall: “Just do whatever you make happy.”
Ex-MLB Player Yasiel Puig was lying About Sports Bets
When the court finally released their documents, it was no surprise that they had been hiding something. The US Attorney’s Office filed a plea agreement on Aug 29. According to this newly unsealed document, two former business partners will take responsibility for allying themselves with wrongdoers in exchange for leniency.
In January, federal investigators questioned Puig about his involvement in the case. Despite warnings that he could face charges if he lied to them and told colleagues he only knew “Agent 1” through baseball while never talking directly or meeting up-front with this person outside of games themselves.
But later admitted under questioning by agents, it seemed as though there might have been some kind gesture made at least once since then because after being confronted further continued saying how much time they’ve spent together watching batting practice from each other’s perspective over Skype.
When presented with a bundle of cash, the defendant said he placed an online wager which caused him to lose his winnings.
In March, Poggio sent someone identified only as “individual b” an audio message where he admitted lying to the investigators.
“Mr. Puig’s lies hindered the legal and procedural tasks of investigators and prosecutors – even though it is against his conscious of doing so,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher after announcing charges against former business partner Nix’s Gambling Businesses.
“He has been charged with tax evasion for failing honesty when dealing with them.” The sentence includes a $55,000 fine and potentially five years in prison.
The bilingual player who has made six trips to the majors and won a starting spot on his only All-Star team, Puig is still going strong in 2018. He’s hitting .275 with 132 home runs so far this season for LA against their cross clubhouse rivals San Francisco Giants.
Another Ex-MLB Player Pleads Guilty
The former MLB player is expected to serve as much time in prison after admitting guilt on two counts of subscribing false tax returns.
The former baseball player known as “the Baltic brilliance” was caught up in an international gambling scandal.
Prosecutors said Hiljus, who played for the Detroit Tigers and Oakland A’s from 1999-2002, served as a middleman between Nixxics Sportsbook Inc., which operates offshore sportsbooks including bettors paradise Pinnacle Betting rooms Ltd. The company is accused of facilitating illegal transactions between gamblers located all over.
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