Former Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco will receive a new trial after an appeals court voided his conviction of abusing a minor. The 24-year-old had been given a two-year suspended sentence, which is essentially probation. He could now be found not guilty or receive a different sentence entirely.
The appeals court in the Dominican Republic voided the initial ruling against Wander Franco and ordered a new panel of judges to adjudicate the case again. Franco’s attorneys are seeking to have his conviction suspended and sentencing overturned.
Prosecutors had been seeking a five-year prison term for the former MLB star. He was accused of having an inappropriate four-month-long relationship with a then-14-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic when he was 21-years-old.
“The court understood that there were many flaws, many omissions… many issues, and decided to send the case to a new trial,” the Associated Press reports Teodosio Jaquez Encarnacion, Franco’s attorney, said after the appeals court’s ruling.
“We are winning, because we have argued, and continue to reaffirm, that there is no direct evidence against Wander Franco that links him to the act for which he could be criminally or civilly sanctioned or convicted,” Jaquez Encarnacion told the Tampa Bay Times.
Prosecutor Jose Martínez Montan is confident that a new trial will yield the same guilty verdict.
“In a new trial, the procedures will be reevaluated. We won the case in the first trial, and we expect the same in the new trial,” he said.
The mother of the girl in the Wander Franco case is also getting a new trial
The mother of the girl Wander Franco is accused of abusing and exploiting is already in prison. She was found guilty of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors claim Franco paid the girl’s mother thousands of dollars and gifted her a car in exchange for consenting to the relationship. The appeals court also granted her a new trial.
Wander Franco signed a $3.8 million contract with Tampa Bay when he was just 16-years-old and was named an All-Star at the age of 22. He was signed to a $182 million contract when he was placed on administrative leave by MLB in August 2023. He has not played since.