Welcome to Arrest Stories. Former Major League Baseball player Yasiel Puig has been convicted of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators in connection with an illegal sports gambling operation. Here's what may have happened.
The thirty-five-year-old former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder found himself entangled in a federal investigation that began in two thousand seventeen into an illegal gambling business operated by Newport Coast resident Wayne Nix, a former minor league pitcher.
According to court records, Puig began placing bets on games through an intermediary connected to Wayne Nix's gambling business starting in May two thousand nineteen. By June two thousand nineteen, Puig had accumulated two hundred eighty-two thousand nine hundred dollars in sports gambling losses to the Nix operation.
Between July and September two thousand nineteen, federal investigators say Puig placed eight hundred ninety-nine bets on football and basketball games and tennis matches through a Costa Rica-based website associated with Nix. At one point in two thousand nineteen, Puig allegedly owed more than nine hundred thousand dollars to Wayne Nix.
The case took a critical turn in January two thousand twenty-two when federal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security interviewed Puig via video conferencing for ninety minutes. His lawyer was present during the interview.
Despite being warned that lying to federal agents constitutes a crime, Puig denied all knowledge of the Nix gambling business and persons participating in it during the interview. Prosecutors stated, "During a final break, the government privately advised defendant's then-counsel that defendant's statements were contrary to evidence the government had already obtained during the Nix Gambling Business investigation."
The government contended that Puig also lied during his two thousand nineteen naturalization process regarding his gambling activities. A federal prosecutor told the court, "He was told he wasn't a target and that the interview was strictly voluntary. But instead of telling the truth, he walked a tightrope of lies."
Puig has maintained his innocence, stating, "I want to clear my name. I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit."
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.