'Everybody will see the truth now': Ex-MLB superstar Yasiel Puig pleads NOT guilty in illegal gambling case
LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA: As part of the federal authorities investigation into an illegal gambling network, Yasiel Puig has now entered a not-guilty plea. When federal authorities interviewed the former MLB star through Zoom in January 2022, he originally pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements, but on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, the former athlete claimed that he wants to clear his reputation.
The former All-Star outfielder, 31, said in a statement, "I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit." According to Puig's attorney Keri Axel, "significant" new information has emerged that has led to a modification of her client's plea. The Ex MLB superstar also shared a post on his Instagram with a news release photo thanking his agent Lisette Carnet.
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According to the New York Post, Axel stated, "At the time of his January 2022 interview, Mr Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental-health issues, and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him." She added, "We have reviewed the evidence, including significant new information, and have serious concerns about the allegations made against Yasiel."
While sharing the immediate release on Instagram on Thursday, December 1, 2022, Puig thanked his agent Lisette Carnet of Leona Sports Agency, and wrote, "I thanks @lisettecarnet so much for believing in me and give me strengths to stand up and says the truth. I am happy everybody will see the truth now." Puig added, "I am honor that Mr. Lawrence Middleton has come to helps cause he knows what happens with people like me and how things can go bad cause of the way I looks and maybe no speak right. I no guilty. I never wants this trouble. I just wants to play baseball. I was finally happy."
Carnet told New York Post that Puig arrived at the interview "feeling rushed, unprepared, without criminal counsel with him, and also without his own interpreter." In the plea deal from August, Puig admitted that he used a third party who worked for an illegal gambling business run by former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix to wager on tennis, football, and basketball events, incurring losses totaling more than $280,000.
Authorities claim Puig bet on at least 900 different Nix-operated betting websites. Puig admitted lying to federal agents looking into the company by denying he had made the bets through the company. Puig could spend up to five years in prison if found guilty.