PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic – An appeals court in the Dominican Republic ordered a new trial on Tuesday tampa bay rays shortstop wander francoWho was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor earlier this year and received a two-year suspended sentence.
Tuesday’s ruling came as Franco’s lawyers had pushed to suspend his conviction and overturn his sentence, while prosecutors were seeking a five-year sentence.
The appeals court ruled in Franco’s favor and ordered that a new panel of judges oversee the case.
Franco’s lawyer Teodosio Jacquez said, “The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions… many issues, and decided to send the case for a new trial.”
Meanwhile, prosecutor José Martínez Montón, the district attorney for Puerto Plata province, where the case is being heard, said he maintains his confidence in the evidence presented during the first trial earlier this year.
“The procedures will be reevaluated in the new trial. We won the case in the first trial and we expect the same in the new trial,” he said.
Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month affair with a girl and transferring thousands of dollars to her mother for consenting to the illicit relationship.
In November 2021, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract, but his career was thrown into turmoil when Dominican Republic authorities announced in August 2023 that they were investigating him for alleged relations with a minor. Franco was 22 years old at that time.
In January 2024, Franco was arrested in his home country. Six months later, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, cutting his salary while he was on administrative leave.
In late June a panel of three judges found him guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor and not guilty of charges of sexual and commercial exploitation and human trafficking against a minor.
Judges also found the girl’s mother guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. At the time, one of the judges, Jacqueira Veras García, criticized the mother and her request that Franco pay for her daughter’s schooling and other expenses.
“Apparently, she was the one who thought she was handling the bat in the big leagues,” Veras said in June.
The appeals court also granted the mother permission for a new trial on Tuesday.
