Puig’s betting did not go well
Former Los Angeles Dodgers star outfielder Yasiel Puig lost hundreds of thousands of dollars placing bets with an illegal gambling site in 2019. On Monday, he agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of lying to law enforcement regarding those bets. According to a statement put out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office
For the Central District of California, Puig will pay a fine of at least $55,000 and could face up to five years in prison, though one would think that any further punishment won’t be that severe.
“Lying to federal agents is a serious offense,” said HSI Los Angeles Acting Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. “HSI Los Angeles and our partners will actively pursue those that seek to hinder the fair administration of justice.”
According to the USAO, Puig’s betting began in May 2019, when he placed wagers on sporting events with the aid of a third party, simply called “Agent 1.” Agent 1 worked for an illegal gambling site run by former minor league baseball player Wayne Nix.
Puig would contact Agent 1 with the bets he wanted to make and Agent 1 would, in turn, place the bets with Nix’s site. By June 2019, Puig was down $282,900. He was told to pay “Individual A,” who was a customer that Nix’s business owed money, so Puig withdrew $200,000 from his bank account, bought two $100,000 cashier’s checks, and paid the person.
With the payment, Nix gave Puig direct access to the betting site. From July 4, 2019 to September 29, 2019, Puig bet 899 times on tennis, football, and basketball. There is no indication that he bet on baseball.
The truth and nothing but the truth
When interviewed by federal investigators in January of this year, Puig lied, saying he knew Agent 1 from baseball, not from gambling. He also lied about the $200,000, saying he lost the money in one, big online bet, and that he didn’t know the person who told him to send it to Individual A.
We talked about Wayne Nix in April, after he pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business, operated through Costa Rica-based website Sand Island Sports.
Nix and his business partner, Edon Kagasoff, hired three former MLB players to run the business and had a client list full of professional athletes, coaches, and broadcasters, some of whom were still active in their sports. They took bets through the website and through a call center.
Yasiel Puig played for the Dodgers from 2013 to 2018 and then both the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) in 2019. He was known for his incredible arm and tremendous power at the plate. Puig batted .277 during his Major League career, hitting 132 homers, and was selected to the All-Star team in 2014. He now plays in South Korea.
