"The DOJ said Puig withdrew $200,000 from a Los Angeles-area bank in June 2019 to settle these debts. After his debts were settled, he then proceeded to place more than 800 bets through online platforms, including football and basketball games and tennis matches. Many of those bets, officials said, were placed while he was on MLB ballpark property, often placed before or after games in which he'd played."
"Although he claimed to not know the man with whom he'd placed many of his bets, investigators were aware of hundreds of phone calls and text messages that revealed the opposite to be true. Puig also sent a voice message to another creditor in which he admitted to lying to federal agents. Puig, who is originally from Cuba, became a naturalized American citizen in 2019, which required him to testify that he never engaged in illegal gambling."
Yasiel Puig, 35, was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to federal investigators for placing illegal bets while still playing professional baseball. Evidence showed he began betting in May 2019 through an intermediary and accumulated more than $250,000 in losses. He withdrew $200,000 from a Los Angeles-area bank in June 2019 to settle debts and subsequently placed over 800 online bets on football, basketball and tennis, many made on MLB ballpark property before or after games. Losses grew to nearly $1 million owed to an illegal gambling business and remained unpaid. Investigators uncovered hundreds of calls and texts linking Puig to a creditor, and he admitted in a voice message to lying to federal agents. He became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and faces sentencing in May with potential prison time exceeding a decade; Wayne Joseph Nix previously pleaded guilty.
Read at Dodgers Nation
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