Former MLB player Yasiel Puig pleads guilty to lying about illegal sports bets

Crazy story dropped yesterday as Yasiel Puig pleaded guilty to a federal charge for lying to law enforcement officials about sports bets he made with an illegal gambling operator.

Puig, who now plays baseball in South Korea, will plead guilty to one count of making false statements. This crime carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in federal prison. He also agreed to pay a fine of 55k.

Puig will make an appearance in U.S District court today.

According to the documents, Puig began placing bets on sporting events in May 2019 through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.

In June 2019, Puig was down $282,900 to Nix's gambling business. Puig was able to pay off 200k of that debt and was allowed re-entry into the site. He placed 899 (!!!) additional bets on tennis, football, and basketball from July 4, 2019 to September 29, 2019. The release did not say he was betting on any baseball.

In January of 2022, federal investigators interviewed Puig. Puig acknowledged lying to those federal agents who were looking into the business, denying he had placed bets.

In the press release, the FBI agent said:

"When given the opportunity to be truthful about his involvement with Nix's gambling businesses, Mr. Puig chose not to," IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher said in the release. "Mr. Puig's lies hindered the legal and procedural tasks of the investigators and prosecutors."

Wayne Nix who ran the gambling operation pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to operate an illegal sports gambling business and filing false tax returns. Nix's business ran for two decades and included both current and former professional athletes.

Absolutely crazy story in my opinion. A couple takeaways. First, is that you should never gamble illegally. Second, it is INSANE the quantity of bets he placed in just a 3 month period. 899 bets in less than 3 months is insane by any standards.

Sad story too as Puig was an intricate part of my childhood going to Dodgers games. He was the face of the franchise and growing up in LA, he was always a fan favorite.

I can also see Netflix producers salivating at the mouth to do a documentary about this when it's all said and done.