Yasiel Puig Cincinnati Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) steps away from the plate as he disagrees with a called strike in the eighth inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, July 30, 2019. The Pirates won 11-4. Pittsburgh Pirates At Cincinnati Reds
By Chris Novak on

A former MLB star agreed to enter a guilty plea on Monday.

Yasiel Puig, who starred prominently with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2013-2018, making the All-Star Game in 2014, pled guilty to a felony charge that he lied to federal agents about an illegal gambling operation.

The Department of Justice issued a press release on Puig’s guilty plea. It read, “A former Major League Baseball (MLB) player has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge for lying to federal law enforcement officials about bets on spring events that he placed with an illegal gambling operation, according to court documents unsealed today.”

The release continued on to say that Puig “has agreed to plead guilty to one count of making false statements.” He will pay a fine totaling, at least, $55,000 according to the release.

The maximum sentence for the felony charge of lying to law enforcement is a harsh one. It holds a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Puig had been involved with an illegal gambling business run as far back as 2019. He made 899 bets over a three-month period at one point.

Puig will make an appearance in court on November 15

[Eric Stephen]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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