Yasiel Puig, the former All-Star outfielder who hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2019, was found guilty of lying to federal law enforcement officials about placing illegal bets with a gambling operation.
Puig, 35, was convicted by a jury in Los Angeles on one count of obstruction of justice and one count of making false statements. He faces maximum sentences of up to 10 years in federal prison for the obstruction charge and up to five years for the false statement. He remains free until a May 26 sentencing hearing.
The verdict in the Central District of California’s federal court concluded a 13-day trial in which prosecutors laid out a pattern, beginning in May 2019, of bets placed by Puig with bookmaker Wayne Joseph Nix, a 49-year-old former minor league pitcher.
Nix pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of subscribing to a false tax return awaits sentencing. Puig likely was not the target of federal investigators, yet in a January 2022 interrogation, was warned by investigators that lying under questioning was a crime.
In March 2022, prosecutors said, Puig sent a WhatsApp message to an associate of the bookie, admitting he lied to federal investigators. At his trial federal prosecutors presented an apparently voluminous record showing Puig lied to investigators.
Investigators say after Puig paid $200,000 to gain access to Nix-controlled gambling web sites, he placed 899 bets on tennis, football, and basketball games between July 4 and Sept. 29, 2019. Puig placed some of these bets at major league ballparks either before or after he played in games.
Puig played for both the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland in the 2019 season, his last in the majors. He did not receive interest from MLB teams after allegations of sexual assault surfaced before the 2021 season. He has spent parts of the past five seasons playing in Mexico or Korea, along with winter league stints in the Dominican Republic or Venezuela.
