MADRID, Spain.- Cuban baseball player and Major League player for seven seasons, Yasiel Puig Valdés, retracted having pleaded guilty of lying to United States federal agents who are investigating him for an illegal sports betting operation.
Through a statement presented by his lawyer, Keri Axel, Yasiel Puig expressed: “I want to clear my name, I should never have agreed to plead guilty to a crime that I did not commit,” he reported this Wednesday. Bill Shakin, of Los Angeles Times.
Under the plea agreement, Puig would have been eligible for probation and agreed to pay a fine of at least $55,000. Without the agreement, Puig could face trial and a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Puig’s lawyer explained that “significant new evidence” prompted the change in statement. Keri Axel did not specify what this new evidence is, but assured that “they are prepared to publicly share this information in the appropriate place and time.”
On November 15, the United States Department of Justice had reported that Yasiel Puig acknowledged that between July and September 2019, when he played for the Cincinnati Reds, he accumulated $280,000 in losses from betting on sporting events. such as soccer, tennis and basketball, through internet sites.
Regarding the admission of guilt, the lawyer explained that the Cuban gardener was not well advised; just as he referred to the player’s school training.
Yasiel Puig, a native of Cienfuegos and nicknamed “Crazy Horse”, in his time in the Major Leagues he reached a batting average of .277, with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs. In 2014 he was elected to the All-Star Game.
After his retirement from the Major Leagues, he played in the Mexican Baseball League with El Águila de Veracruz. With this team he won the “Defensive of the Year” award. In 2021 he signed with South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes for one year and one million dollars.
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