Overview
- Federal prosecutors, in a recent filing, asked a judge to sentence Puig to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and about $55,200 in fines.
- Puig’s lawyer said the defense will ask for probation, calling him a first-time offender who has already suffered reputational and financial damage and citing language barriers in interviews.
- Puig remains free after a judge rejected prosecutors’ bid to detain him as a flight risk, and he is playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs with a sentencing hearing set in Los Angeles on May 26.
- A Los Angeles jury convicted Puig on Feb. 6 of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators, crimes that carry a statutory maximum of up to 15 years.
- At trial, prosecutors said Puig placed bets through an intermediary tied to bookmaker Wayne Nix, ran up $282,900 in debt, and later made more than 800 online wagers that pushed his exposure toward about $1 million.