Yasiel Puig denied illegal gambling during 2019 naturalization interview
LOS ANGELES (CN) — An immigration officer testified on Tuesday that former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig confirmed under oath that he wasn’t involved in illegal gambling during his naturalization interview in August 14, 2019.
The date is significant because federal prosecutors claim that Puig at that time was laying hundreds of bets with a Southern California bookmaker who ran an illegal sports gambling operation popular with high-profile athletes.
Jose Lopez testified on the sixth day of Puig’s jury trial on charges he lied to Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security investigators when they questioned him in January 2022 about his dealings with Wayne Nix, the illegal bookie, and about $200,000 in cashier checks that he used in 2019 to settle part of a debt with Nix.
Puig, 35, had initially agreed to plead guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agent and pay a $55,000 fine. However, when it came time to enter a plea before Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles, he changed his mind and chose to fight the charges.
https://www.courthousenews.com/yasiel-puig-denied-illegal-gambling-during-2019-naturalization-interview/