Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who once signed an $182 million contract with the MLB franchise, has suffered another setback after a Dominican Republic court overturned his pardon in a child sexual abuse case.
The 25-year-old baseball player was handed a suspended three-year prison sentence on Thursday after the Court of Appeal in Puerto Plata ruled in favour of prosecutors who challenged an earlier decision granting him a judicial pardon.
However, Franco will not immediately be sent to prison and can remain free as long as he maintains a fixed residence and complies with conditions imposed by the court.
Failure to meet those conditions could result in him serving the full three-year sentence.
The court’s decision comes months after Franco was found guilty of sexually and psychologically abusing a minor but was spared punishment through a judicial pardon in May.
Prosecutors argued that the pardon was wrongly granted, saying the circumstances of the case did not justify such an exception.
Franco was arrested in January 2024 over allegations that he had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and paid thousands of dollars to her mother.
The court also upheld the mother’s 10-year prison sentence for commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering.
Franco, who signed an 11-year, $182 million deal with the Rays in 2021, has not played in Major League Baseball since August 2023.
He was subsequently placed on the restricted list, leaving him without pay while his legal troubles continued.
