The postponed trial of former Los Angeles Dodger Yasiel Puig starts this week in a US District Court for the Central District of California.
On Tuesday, Puig, 35, will appear before US District Judge Dolly Gee in a federal criminal trial where the ex-MLB All-Star is charged with two counts of making false statements to the Feds and one of obstruction of justice.
According to the Department of Justice, Puig made illegal sports bets in 2019 via an illegal gambling firm coordinated by ex-minor league player Wayne Nix, and later lied to federal agents about making the bets.
False statement charges carry up to five years apiece in prison, while Puig also faces up to ten years in jail should the obstruction of justice charge stick.
I never should have agreed to plead guilty”
Puig’s attorneys revealed in December 2022 that while their client was eligible for probation after he initially pleaded guilty, Puig changed his plea to not guilty stating: “I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.”
Puig, meanwhile, seems to have made the most of his November postponed trial by playing in the Venezuelan pro league for the 2025-26 winter ball season. Sports journalist Humberto Mendoza took to X last week with a clip of one of Puig’s two home runs for his team Navegantes de Magallanes last week:
Puig tried to defect from Cuba to Mexico 13 times in order to pursue an MLB career. Once in the US, he played for the Dodgers from 2013 through 2018 and both the Cincinnati Reds and the then Cleveland Indians in 2019, making the MLB All-Star team that same year.
